When All Is Said and Done
by Blair.Bear.Tate.Monster
Summary: What happens when the worst monster they've encountered can't be fought off? HellBoyLiz and their adult children dealing with the demons that plage too many people in the world. Rated due to language, content, and some situations.
1. And So It Starts

Hello to all the readers out there! This is my very first fan fiction to ever be posted, so needless to say, your help in any aspect would be greatly appreciated!

The main focus of this story is the relations ship HellBoy and Liz have with their now adult children.

I chose to make the kids young adults because it is much easier to create conflict with people that age; don't you agree?

I also centered the story around HellBoy's daughter because I felt that she would be the most vulnerable character, and then later on the strongest (well, maybe not physically, but you get the point.)

Also, if I have any facts wrong (which I'm sure is a total possibility), please feel free to correct me.

Lastly, this story is definitely a work in progress, so bear with me! _!

Thanks millions!

BBTM

They both stared down at me as I sat on the edge of my bed; my sleeves were pushed all the way up to my armpits, revealing the web work of cuts and scratches on my arms. I looked anywhere – everywhere- but at my parents. I finally settled on looking at the patch of ground between my sneakers, knowing it was the safest place for my eyes to be.

Dad snorted; Mom sat down on the bed next to me, an arm around my shoulders. "Hon…" she started, giving me a squeeze. "Talk to us…we want to help; honest."

I snorted this time, rolled my eyes, and shrugged out from under her shoulder. "There's nothing to be helped." I said firmly, hoping it would end the conversation. Hoping it would make them leave, so I could – hopefully- retrieve my dearest friend from my sock drawer

My dad, God bless him, had to sit down on the floor in front of me, and then bend down even more to find my gaze. Once he held my gaze in his, there was not escape; kind of like looking at a gorgon, only not deadly. His was a gaze of true sadness and hurt, something I had never seen in my 18 years.

I can remember hearing him rant about a comic book when I was young. It had been a gift from a boy at school, and brought it home to show to my parents. I was so excited because Daddy was on the cover. I had shown Mommy in the car on the way home, and she had smiled a little, saying it was nice, but never taking her eyes off the road.

Once we got home, I raced to find my Dad, eager to show him my new treasure. I found him in the bathroom, putting away clean towels in the cabinets under the sink. I remember that we had towels and toilet paper under the sinks, and all the cleaning supplies were on the high shelves that my brother and I couldn't reach.

Dad stopped what he was doing, dropped the towel he had held in his hand, and scooped me up into his big, right hand. He smelled of what I later discovered to be cigar smoke, forever a comforting a scent to me. "Daddy! Look at what Andrew gave me at school today!"

Dad sat down on the edge of the bathtub, me resting on his knee. "What is it today, Blair Bear? "

I pulled the comic book out from under my shirt (and seeing as I was seven, you couldn't really tell that it was under there), and held it out for him to see. He took it in his left hand, his smile fading a little, then lifting up into a coy grin.

"I've never really liked these comics…they never get the eyes right."

Which is true; the HellBoy comics can't capture the softness of my Dad's soul, hidden behind his large orange-yellow eyes.

I snapped my eyes shut and shook my head. "Don't look at me like that Dad," I said softly.

"Don't look at you like what, Blair?" he asked, his voice a comforting deep rumble. I felt his large left hand push my dark hair aside.

Mom put her arm around my shoulders again, and this time, I didn't protest. Might as well make them feel better…

Mom used her left hand to push my black hair behind my left ear. It was a little scary, back then, how much I was like my mother. The same dark hair, the same pale, sad face, the same pyrokinetic abilities…The same insomnia due to a fear of setting the house on fire in my dreams.

The only part of me which came from my father was my eyes; the same smoldering flame color, which fascinated the average people I was surrounded by in my life.

"I really don't want to talk about this," I said softly, opening my eyes to look into my father's. "I just…can't right now…"

I reached my hand out to Dad, and he took it in between both of his – his large regular hand, and his even larger stone hand. He looked at our hands for a moment, and then looked up at me. "Okay," was all he said.

Mom squeezed my shoulders lightly, kissed my head, and then stood up from the bed. "We're right down the hall if you need us," she said softly, placing a hand on my dad's shoulder before walking out of my room.

The door closed softly behind mom as she left the room; ever since I could remember, my mother had been a gentle person. She was quiet, and extra careful with both me and my younger brother Trevor. It was almost like she was afraid that we would break.

My dad sighed, gave my hands a gentle squeeze, and then stood up, his hands on his waist. "Alright, kid, time to talk."

I huffed, pulled down my sleeves and crossed my arms across my chest. "No, Dad." I said as I stood up from my bed and walked to my desk. I sprinkled some fish food into the tank which sat on my desk, amongst the many books and papers I had acquired throughout high school and my first semester of college.

"Look, Blair, you're not getting out of this one." I heard my bed squeak as Dad sat down on it. "Either you talk to me now, or I'll get Abe involved."

I shook my head as I watched my tetras dance around each other in the water. "Do whatever makes you happy," I scoffed, sitting down in my desk chair and resting my chin in front of the aquarium.

I heard my Dad sigh as he stood up. "You know what? Fine. Stay quiet. But you better hand over whatever you're using to hurt yourself."

I stood from the chair, walked across the room, and jerked the sock drawer open. I pushed sock rolls aside until I found my treasure box in the back left corner of the drawer. I reached inside and withdrew a blade that had once been inside a box cutter which I had stolen from the theater department at my school.

I closed everything back up, turned back to my dad and dropped the blade in his stone hand. "There," I said, as he turned and started to head out the door. "I'll just find something new if I really want to!"

Dad stood in the door way a moment, and then closed it behind him as he left, not a gently as Mom had, but gently for him.


	2. Making The Rounds Dancing Solo

Insomnia was a good friend to me throughout my schooling. Because I was afraid to sleep, I tended to do some of my best work in the depths of the night, while everyone else within the Bureau was sleeping.

Unfortunately, the homework from my 17 credit hour course load at the local college didn't keep me busy all night, so every now and again, I would wonder the dark, quiet halls, thinking, checking that everyone was in their beds.

After being ousted by Trevor about my cutting, and the exhausting encounter with my parents which ensued, I was drained, but refused to sleep. I had finished all my homework more or less for the semester by then (which was impressive because it was only January), and I had already done my rounds of the building, seeing that everyone was safe in their beds.

Trevor's room was just down the hall from mine; I had opened his door just a crack so that I could see his large form lying on his too-small bed. Trevor looked exactly like our father, from the bigness and redness to the tail and hooves. That was why he was schooled within the Bureau, by the many intelligent agents that had been there throughout our lives.

I, on the other hand, was seemingly normal, when it came to outward appearances. That meant that I went to a real school, a state funded system within Newark, New Jersey. I had normal friends, who had normal families and normal lives.

Trevor was always jealous of me, being able to be outside like a 'real person', as he put it.

He was snoring lightly in his bed, his hooves hanging off the end. I grinned at my little brother, forgetting my anger at him for ratting me out.

After closing his door quietly, I walked down the halls, not really planning where to go next. I didn't want to check on my parents, because I knew they would probably still be awake. Mom wasn't much of a sleeper, after all, and Dad didn't like to sleep while she didn't. He hated thinking of leaving her lonely.

After wondering around for what felt like hours, I came to the little dance studio on the eastern end of the underground building. My parents had had several room commissioned for construction when we had moved back to the Bureau when I was a child. Dad had insisted upon a dance studio, because for some strange reason, he was bound and determined for me to take ballet as a young child.

I never did though; I was purely an academic up until I started college, when I finally began taking Jazz dance classes. I would often practice in the small mirror lined room, grateful that I wouldn't have to stay late at school in order to learn the routines we needed to know.

There was a pretty descent sound system, and there were materials within the walls to sound proof the room, so I would dance pretty much whenever I wanted, day or night.

I entered the room, closed the door behind me, and turned the lights on. Since there were no windows, the entire room was lined with mirrors, and had a ballet bar running the length of one side. On either side of the door were two large speakers which were wired to the sound system.

I looked through the CD box which sat on top one of the speakers, next to the CD player and AUX plug in; I had an idea of what I wanted to dance too, but the matter of finding it took a little while. Once I found what I wanted, I put the CD in, and turned the bass up, so I could feel the reverberations throughout the floor.

The thumping beat of techno music filled the room as I tore off my sneakers and socks, tied my long black hair back into a ponytail, and walked to the middle of the floor. I started out with some stretch type movements – plies and the like. It was easy to get stretched out, because I wore grey sweat pants and a long sleeve sweat shirt with a logo for the band Flyleaf on it.

As the song changed into another track, I began moving into the more complicated dance moves that I had learned over my semester in dance class.

I lost myself with the movements and the music. Before I even realized what was happening, I had fallen onto the floor, exhausted, 5 tracks later.

I lapsed into just listening to the music for I don't know how long; I might have even fallen asleep. I was slammed back into the moment when the room went silent.

I sat up bolt straight, and looked toward the CD player next to the door.

My Dad stood there, his stone index finger pointing to the pause button. He still had that sad look in his eyes that he had earlier in the day (or was it yesterday?), and he held up is left hand, palm out toward me. "Hi," he said, with an awkwardness that all fathers tended to have when they were encountering their teenage daughters.

I relaxed a little, and then tucked some loose hairs behind my ears. "Hi Dad." I said, bringing my knees up to my chest and hugging them.

There was an awkward silence then, making the air within the room thick, and almost unbearable. Thankfully, Dad was smart enough to know how to break such a silence without shattering the peoples involved. "Well, you obviously didn't get that from me." He said, sighing and putting his hands on his hips.

I grinned, standing up and crossing my arms across my chest. "I don't know; have you seen your wedding video? You can definitely tell that Mom is white," I said, my smile broadening at the comment, which my mother had said about herself many times.

Dad chuckled as I walked up to him. "Yeah, I guess you're right." When I reached him, he put his left hand on my shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. "You doing ok?"

I nodded. "Can't sleep," I lied. Dad knew why I didn't like sleeping. He often gave me sleeping pills that made it to where I wouldn't dream so I could get the sleep I needed.

Dad nodded, gently clapped his hand on my shoulder, and turned to leave the room. "C'mon, and I'll give you something to help that."


	3. What To Do?

HellBoy returned to the room that he shared with his wife Liz. He had put Blair to bed, made sure she had taken the sleeping pills he had given her, and didn't leave the room until he was sure that she was asleep.

He opened the door to his bed room to see that the lights were still on, and Liz was lying on the bed, her hands behind her head as she stared up at the ceiling.

"Hey," HellBoy said, closing the door behind him as he entered the room. Liz glanced at him, but didn't move.

"You should change out of your day clothes," Liz said softly, her gaze returning to the ceiling.

HellBoy did as he was told, not wanting to cause any kind of friction with his wife, who he could tell was at a greater level of distress than she had ever been before. "Blair's asleep," he said, as he went around the room, removing his day clothes and changing into night clothes.

Liz sighed and rolled onto her right side, facing HellBoy's side of the bed as he sat down there. "I'm worried," she said softly.

HellBoy rubbed his eyes with his left hand, and then pinched the bridge of his nose. "Me too," he said softly, leaning back against the head board.

Liz snuggled up closer to her husband. "What do you think we should do?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his left arm, hugging it to her chest.

As much as it pained him to, he shook his head and said, "I don't know."

HellBoy turned more toward his wife, took her up gently in his arms, and laid with her in the bed until they both fell asleep with the lights on, both wondering what could be done to help their daughter.


	4. Blair's Dream

As the medication wore off, images began flashing within my head. Snap shots of things I had seen throughout my life, but they were going so fast, I couldn't make them out.

Except for one.

Andrew, looking down on me as I lay beneath him, a wicked grin on his face.

The face of a monster.

I squeezed my eyes shut tightly against the images. "Go away!" I cried, covering my ears, sinking to my knees.

I pressed my fingers hard into the sides of my head, trying to block out the sounds. The sounds always came next. The audio playback of the events of that night last summer.

My body felt like it was on fire…

_"No, don't! Please stop!"_

_ "Shut up!"_

_ "STOP!"_

"STOP IT!"

My world went up in flames.


	5. Family Crisis

The blaring fire alarm was what woke Trevor from his deep sleep. Much like his father, Little Red was a heavy sleeper; not to mention a big eater.

Trevor shook the sleep from his head as he rolled from his bed. "What in the…" he started before he realized what the sound that had awoken him was.

Fire alarm. That equaled trouble.

"Crap!" He spat as he ran to the door and flung it open onto the hallway.

Pajama clad agents were running down the hall, calling to one another and making demands as they went. Trevor tried to get someone's attention to ask what was wrong, but no one would stop to answer him. He was just about to grab someone and demand to know what was happening, when he saw his parents go running by.

"Mom, Pop!" He called, merging roughly into the crowd of agents to catch up with them. "What's going on?"

"We don't know," HellBoy said to his son as they moved quickly down the hall.

They turned the corner onto another hall where it was suddenly bright and hot. A door at the end of the hall way was flung open, flames lapping at the door frame.

"That's Blair's room!" Liz cried, her maternal instincts kicking in as she ran down the hall toward her daughters burning room.

"Liz, wait!" HellBoy called, trying to catch up with his wife.

"Dad!" Trevor called towards his father's back.

"Stay back Trevor!" HellBoy called over his shoulder as he entered the burning room behind his wife.

Refusing to sit idly by, Trevor pushed forward, passed the Bureau agents who were too afraid to enter the room, and made his way inside his sister's bed room.

Trevor remembered the first time Blair had ever set something on fire. He couldn't remember why, but she had been upset and had set the kitchen table on fire. That was back when they lived in the cottage, before their parents decided to return to the Bureau. The whole kitchen probably would have been lost if their parents hadn't intervened, Pop taking Blair and wrapping her in a fire blanket and Mom using the sink hose to douse the flames.

Since returning to the Bureau, most of Blair's things were fire retardant or resistant, aside from the many papers she had scattered around the room and tacked all over the walls. That was what had fueled the fire and had sent it lapping towards the door. The longer she blazed, the more damage there would be.

Trevor saw his sister, writhing on her bed, blue flames encasing her body, her blankets just beginning to smolder and smoke. (Thank God for that fire retardant crap.)

Liz pulled the blankets off of her daughter as HellBoy scooped her up into his arms. Trevor moved quickly, pulling the old fire blanket out of Blair's closet and throwing it over her.

The flames resided, but Blair was still dreaming, thrashing around in HellBoy's arms, screaming and crying as she was attacked by some unknown being.

"Blair!" HellBoy said loudly into his daughter's ear as he shook her, trying to wake her before she burnt the entire building down.

Liz came over after ensuring that nothing else was on fire and then took her daughter's face in her hands, and patted her cheeks. "Blair, wake up!"

Trevor looked around the room for something – anything – to use to wake his older sister. He saw her usual glass of water on her bedside table, grabbed it and flung it on to her and HellBoy.

Blair gasped, finally waking, her eyes wide, dazed and fearful. Her breathing was shallow and uneven as she looked from her parents to her brother. "Mom..?" she asked softly, her voice shaking as her gaze settled on her mother.

Liz wrapped her arms around her daughter, falling into her husband's lap as she did. "It's ok, we're right here," she said softly, stroking her daughter's hair.

Trevor forced himself to look away as his sister fell into sobs, clutching to both of their parents.


	6. I'm an Idiot

~~Author's Note:

So, as I've worked on this story, it's really evolved from a simple Drama/Hurt/Comfort, which I'm very excited about. It has really taken on a life of its own, which is very exciting, and makes me very happy.

I would like to remind everyone that I am completely open to constructive criticism, and that anyone's help would be greatly appreciated!

I am really stoked about where this story is headed, and I hope you readers are too!

Eternally Thankful,

BBTM

I sat quietly on the floor in what had once been Grandpa Broom's den and study. The room was filled with books and statues, mocking phantoms of the grandfather I had never known. The room had remained more or less unchanged, at least as long as I had lived at the Bureau.

I sat in a corner that I had claimed as my own when we had moved back to the Bureau. I was 6, just getting started in the nearby elementary school in the second grade class. My teachers had always said that I was smart for my age, so they had me placed in the higher class once we moved to the city from our small country home.

I could never remember where exactly our cottage was – in a large meadow in a clearing of a thick green forest somewhere in the north, for sure – and I never found out what part of the world it was in. Mom and Dad didn't like to talk about our former home, so I never asked about it.

I had always done my homework in Grandpa Broom's office. I felt smarter when I was surrounded by his many books and artifacts, and I actually did my best work in there.

I sat in my favorite corner, wrapped in an old blanket that had been my father's when he was a child. It was a faded blue color, and the size of a king size comforter (Dad had always been a big guy). I had one of the many available books open on my lap, going through the motions of reading, but not really taking things in. My mind kept wandering to the events of the night before.

I hadn't lost control in so long; not since the night it had happened.

I shook my head, commanding myself not to think about it. Suppressing the memory of that night had served me well until the night before. If I willed myself enough, I could forget.

I would make myself forget.

Every time the thought of that night entered my mind, I punished myself. No food for a day, the nick of a razorblade, pulling out my hair and eyelashes; anything to train myself not to think about it.

I was forced back to myself when I heard a door open. I was pretty sure it was the main door, but I had no way to tell for certain, given where I sat within the room. I closed my book, keeping my right index finger inside it to keep my place.

Soft footsteps came closer to where I sat, and as they turned the corner toward me, I smiled softly.

Abraham Sapien had always been my favorite 'uncle'; he was very gentle, wise, and serine, and had told the most wonderful stories to Trevor and I when we were small. He stood in front of the wall tank that he had once called home back before I was born. It was also where he stayed during his visits to the Bureau throughout my life there. He was wearing his special breathing suit which provided water to his gills and eyes.

I closed my book all the way and set it to the side as I stood and walked to greet him. "Uncle Abe," I said softly as I walked toward him, holding Dad's blanket tightly around me.

He turned toward me, his large eyes blinking rapidly behind his goggles. He made a surprised sound, and I stopped my advance. He looked me over – messy hair to exposed dark blue toe nails – and smiled as widely as he possibly could (although he technically _couldn't_ smile).

"Well look at you, all grown up," he said softly, holding a hand out to me. "You look wonderful, Blaries."

I smiled at my uncle's use of his favorite pet name for me, but I did not advance further and did not offer my hand to him. I knew that just being in the same room as him opened my mind up to him. If I took his hand or embraced him, he would know every sensation I had ever experienced, and there was just some things I refused to expose him to.

"It's good to see you, Uncle Abe," I said softly. He looked good; very much like the few pictures Mom had shown me when I was young. The vibrancy of his blue-green skin had never changed over the almost twenty years I had known him.

Uncle Abe nodded, his large eyes empty of expression behind his goggles. "Well," he started, fiddling with his hands out of anxiety. "I'm sure you know why your parents wanted me to speak with you."

I nodded, casting my gaze to the floor. I was flexing my toes, trying to distract myself. I heard Uncle Abe clear his throat as he took a step closer to me. "I don't want to force you, Blair; so I'll leave if you want me to."

I shook my head as I met Uncle Abe's gaze. "You don't have to leave," I said. I bit my lip and fingered a lose string on Dad's blanket. "I just…don't want anyone to know."

"Damn it, B!"

Uncle Abe and I both jumped at the new voice. In the door way stood my younger brother, an angry look on his face.

Trevor stomped his way into the room, his tail swishing angrily behind him. He looked very much like our Dad, only with slightly shaggy black hair on his head, parted around his horns, and no facial hair to speak of (although he was constantly trying to grow it out to look like Dad's.)

Trevor's horns were filed down close to his head, almost looking like stone goggles from the distance between us, which he was quickly closing. His scowl deepened as he came closer to me. He raised his large (though flesh) right hand and pointed at me.

"I'm really getting tired of this, 'I'm pathetic, leave me alone,' crap." He said, shaking his index finger at me for emphasis.

I bit my lip and glared up at him, mixed emotions flaring inside of me. I began trying to focus on flexing my toes again, to distract myself. Uncle Abe up a webbed hand out to stop Trevor. "This is a delicate situation," he started.

"Delicate my ass," Trevor snorted, rolling his eyes at our uncle. "All this is is my older sister being stupid."

My mouth dropped open slightly at Trevor's comment. I'm being stupid?" I asked in disbelief. One particular emotion boiled over the rest – anger. "How exactly am I being stupid?" I demanded.

Trevor crossed his arms, looking down at me, a smug grin on his face. "Simple, Pipsqueak," he said, using a much hated 'term of endearment.' "You think you're being all big and mature by keeping your problems to yourself, when you're really hurting the people around you."

I dropped my gaze, the anger inside of me turning to self loathing. I knew, deep down, that Trevor was right but…

"I just can't." I said, my voice a low whisper. I could feel my control slipping; I dropped dad's blanket and stepped away from it. I wouldn't be able to bear it if I burned it.

Trevor shook his head, a look of disgusted annoyance on his face. "Yes, you can!" He spat, his tail swishing around behind him angrily. "All you have to do is open your damn mouth."

I couldn't hold it back anymore; it just slipped out. Blue flames engulfed my hands as I clenched them into fists by my sides. I heard Trevor snort again as the flames cast an eerie glow on both him and Uncle Abe. "If you think a stupid flare up is going to get you out of this one, you're even dumber than I thought." He turned and began walking to the door.

"You're right," I said softly. Trevor stopped his retreat, but kept his back to me as I spoke. "I _am_ stupid…I'm a complete idiot." The flames over took my whole body, head to toe. Uncle Abe looked torn between cringing away from the heat and wanting to put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "I should have been stronger…should have fought harder. If I hadn't been so stupid, it never would have happened."

I covered my face with my hands; I was a complete idiot. I felt a hand on my shoulder and heard Trevor say softly. "You don't have to fight or be strong; just talk to us."

~~Reviews would be appreciated!


	7. Out In The Open

Dad, Mom, Uncle Abe, Manning, and Trevor all sat around the small table in conference room one. Dad had his left arm around Mom, holding her protectively by his side. "When did it happen?" he asked, his voice void of emotion.

"Just after her high school graduation," Uncle Abe said softly. "At a party; she had been with some friends, but they left without her. Andrew offered her a ride home, but she declined, because she knew that she shouldn't let him know where she actually lived, and she didn't want to go back to her friend's house because she was upset with them."

Mom made a sound, a strange, mangled mix between a hiccup and a gag, as she covered her mouth. "I shouldn't have let her go," she said through her fingers.

Dad gently rubbed her cheek with the back of his stone finger. "It's okay, you couldn't have known." He turned his attention back to Abe. "What happened to him?" he asked, venom dripping from the sentence's subject.

Trevor stood up from his seat and walked over onto the other side of our mother. "She killed him; she lost control of her fire, and his whole car went up in flames. After that, she said that she walked back here, and snuck in and into her room." Trevor took Mom's left hand in both of his and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Blair's going to be okay; talking with Uncle Abe really helped. After their talk, she went to her room and went to sleep without any medication."

Mom nodded as Uncle Abe spoke. "She has taken a big step today. Red, Liz." Once the couple had looked up at him, he continued. "What's most important now is that we all help her and support her. Now that this is all out in the open, we can all begin healing."

Dad nodded as Mom relaxed a little, leaning into him. "I still don't understand the cutting though," he said, looking to his blue counterpart for an answer.

Uncle Abe sighed with a slight shrug. "She wouldn't say, but I get the feeling from her that it was how she kept control of her thoughts. Every time she thought about it, she would cause herself pain; it was a negative reinforcement system."

Manning finally made his presence known by clearing his throat and standing. "As much as I hate this whole situation, we have work to do." Everyone directed their attention to Manning as he opened a manila envelope which sat before him on the table. "Our next assignment is up in Maine, where there have been 'vampire' attacks." Manning did the in air quotations with his fingers. "The local authorities seemed to think it was just local teenagers playing pranks, wanting to be vampires, but just goofing around. Then, a week ago, three bodies turned up, dried of blood. We'll be sending in agents to try to infiltrate the local 'vampire' club scene, try to see if there are any connections."

Mom looked up at Manning. "I don't think I should go; I want to stay here and make sure Blair is going to be ok."

Manning sighed, and ran a hand down his face. "Liz, we need agents that can be _in public._ If you're so damn worried about the kid, take her with you."

"Okay."

Everyone's eyes turned toward the door; I stood there in my pajamas, Dad's blanket wrapped around my shoulders. Dad began shaking his head, and opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. "No Dad. I want to help. I know that I haven't been…the best of anything lately. But…" I stopped, unwrapping the blanket from my shoulders. I folded it over my arms, which were bare, my many cuts and scars catching the lights. Mom closed her eyes when she caught sight of them. "I want to be better…I want to _get_ better."

I had to do something to make this up to all of them. What better way than to help them in the BPRD field work? Trevor stood up from his place beside Mom and came over to me, slapping me gently on the back (although the 'gentleness' wasn't very evident on my part.) " 'Bout time you started using your brain, Pipsqueak."

He gave me an impish grin as Mom came over to us. "Are you sure, Blair? I mean, you're not even a qualified agent, and…" she paused, smoothing back some of my messy black hair. "I don't think you should go."

I opened my mouth to protest when Manning spoke. "It'll be easier for her to blend in."

Mom and Dad both looked at Manning with sarcastically inquisitive looks; it was times like these when you could really tell how much they hated the man. Manning held up his hands as if that would stop the onslaught of glances. "What? If she's not trained as an agent, she won't have to worry about trying to not act like one while in the field."

Dad held his stone hand up to Manning. What if she gets into trouble?" He gestured to me with a sideway's nod. "She doesn't know how to defend herself."

Manning looked at my father as if to say, "You really are stupid, aren't you?" He then held up his right hand, palm up, and waved his left hand over and around it in what I'm sure he thought was an impressive, mythical looking way. I smiled despite myself, thankful for Manning's comedic way of going to bat for me. I could tell from the look on my Dad's face that the argument was over (because if he continued, he would end up finally killing Manning, like had always wanted to.) I was going to Maine to help my family. I was finally going to start making things good with them.


	8. Bad Feeling

HellBoy, Liz and Abe were in Professor Broom's study. Abe had put on some classical music to try and calm the couple, but it didn't seem to work. HellBoy sat in an overstuffed chair beside Abe's tank, chewing on the stub of a cigar. "_Need a smoke,"_ he was constantly thinking. _"Need a damn smoke."_

Liz paced around the room with her arms crossed, stopping every so often to scan the spines of books, trying to find something that could possibly help them on their mission. She would only pause for a moment before becoming flustered and then pacing the room again, trying to think of a way to persuade her daughter to stay at the Bureau.

Abe sighed heavily as he floated in his tank; trying to relax with two powerhouses of nervous and anxious energy was not working. "Red," he said as he swam towards his friend. "Go outside and smoke."

HellBoy stood, grumbling about 'damn physic' and 'good cigar.' Liz stopped pacing as she watched her husband leave the room, searching his pants pockets for a lighter. She shook her head as she crossed the room toward Abe. "Abe, I've got to do something about this."

Abe blinked at his old friend as she messaged her right temple with her fingers. "I mean, I know Blair's a strong girl, but I don't think she can handle something like this right now. And Trevor's encouraging her, which makes no sense, because normally all those two do is fight. And Red is pouting like a little kid, he won't even talk to me about this – "

"Liz!" Abe interjected, placing a hand on the glass of his tank. "You need to calm down. Blaires will be fine; you're right, she is a strong girl, but right now what she needs is support, especially from you and Brother Red."

"Why do you call her that?" Liz demanded, her hand conjuring orange flames as her temper rose.

"What?" Abe asked in confusion.

"Why do you call Blair 'Blaires'?" Liz asked, balling up her fist and extinguishing her flame.

Abe smiled (as best he could, considering he couldn't actually smile). He understood that the name didn't really make her angry, she was just lashing out. "When Trevor was little, he couldn't say 'is'."

"What?"

"Trevor couldn't say 'is'; he said 'es'." Abe paused, seeing the confusion in Liz's face. "Remember when you, Red, and Johann had a mission in Germany right after you all moved back to the Bureau when the twins were 6? I came here while you were away to take care of them."

Liz nodded, her temper cooling slightly at the memories Abe's words conjured. "They had both gotten so big while we were gone, and they tackled up as soon as we got back."

Abe nodded and then continued. "Yes, well, Trevor would never say "Blair is," when talking about her. He would say 'es'; "Blair es smart," "Blair es pretty." She was his favorite topic of conversation." Liz smiled as Abe finished. "So 'Blaires' just, well…stuck with me."

"I understand, Blue." Liz's smile waned as she placed her hand on the glass of Abe's tank, aligning it with his. "I just have a bad feeling about all of this."

Abe placed his hand over hers. "It will be okay, Liz," he said softly as the classical music in the background gently came to an end. "I'm sure of it."


	9. Strikingly Similar

The rest of that day went by, coming to an early turn in due to an early departure time the next day. Liz had helped her daughter pack (seeing as Blair didn't know what exactly to pack in order to be prepared for a mission) before heading back to her own room for some alone time with her husband.

Liz stood in the open doorway of her daughter's room, watching as Blair walked from her dresser to her bed, packing clothes in to a small black bag. "How long do you think we'll be gone?" Blair asked as she folded up a black sweater.

"Not sure," Liz said, walking into the room. "From what Manning has said Coburn Gore has several 'vampire' clubs, so it'll take us at least a few nights to get through them all. Have you emailed your professors about being gone?"

Blair nodded as she zipped the small black bag closed. "I'm on indefinite medical leave," she said, moving the bag from her be to her desk chair, avoiding her mother's gaze.

"What?" Liz asked in a confused but demanding tone. Blair turned to her mother, crossing her arms across her chest. She wore a black tee sure with some rock band's symbol on the front, but that wasn't what held Liz's attention. It was her daughter's arms. The criss-crossing web of red and brown cuts and scars made Liz want to fold in on herself, like a piece of paper in flames. She felt so useless, not being able to help her daughter.

"I spoke with the Dean of Students about my…problem," Blair said, avoiding eye contact and pushing her hair out of her face. "She told me I could come back once I was better and that I would get all my scholarships back."

"Well, I would hope so," Liz scoffed as she sat on the edge of her daughter's bed. "You're the smartest student they have."

Blair sat down next to her mother on the bed. "She told me that if I hadn't told her about it – it someone had ratted me out to the school board- they probably would have kicked me out." Blair tossed her head in a disgusted way. "Something about, 'I could be a danger to other students.' But since I went to her about it instead of hiding it, they're gonna cut me some slack. No pun intended."

Liz cast a dark glance at her daughter, but it immediately softened. Blair looked so tired and frail, so much of Liz showing in her. The only real differences between the mother and daughter – physically – were their build and hair lengths. Blair had never been as tiny as her mother, seeing as she had gotten half of her genetic makeup from HellBoy. Blair was almost as tall as her mother, with a fuller figure, and Liz, as tall and thin as she was, was glad that her daughter had some curves. Liz pushed some of her hair out of her eyes; although it was longer than it had been in the past, she kept her hair relatively short. Her daughter's, on the other hand, had always been kept long, flowing down to the small of her back.

Liz sighed as patted Blair's knee with her hand. "Well kiddo, I'll let you get to bed; see you bright and early."

Blair watched her mother walk to the door. "4:30?" She asked as Liz turned back toward her, her hand on the door knob.

"Yep, so you better get to bed," Liz said with a grin.

"Okay," Blair said grinning back. " Night, Mom."

Liz watched her daughter crawl into bed and then turned out the lights as she closed the door and left the room. As Liz began wondering the halls, she laughed to herself. _"Abe's right,"_ she thought as she walked and crossed her arms across her chest. _"It will be okay."_

Even as Liz repeated those words to herself, a knot of sickening worry was rooting its self deep into her stomach.

Author's Note:

About the city where the main adventure will occur: I really have no clue about it, I just opened an atlas and picked a tiny dot near the border of Maine. :)


	10. Memory and Prophecy

Liz mused as she wandered the halls and corridors of the BPRD; there was so much that she felt the need to do – try to convince her daughter to stay home, confront her husband about his childishness regarding the whole situation – but she was just to drained to deal with any of it. Her mind couldn't settle on something to think about, and she was agitated.

As she walked, her mind settled, finally, on a subject; the memories of the day that the twins were born replayed in her mind, as vivid as if it were yesterday.

_~*~19 years previous – Northern Ireland_

_ Liz sat on the couch in the small cottage, her hands resting on her swollen belly as she tried to focus on her breathing. _"Just stay calm,"_ she thought. _"Red and Abe will be back soon. Myers has already gone to get the midwife. It's going to be okay."

_HellBoy and Abe had been gone most of the morning and into the afternoon having what H.B. called 'Man Time.' They had left Myers to hold down the fort (a.k.a baby sit the pregnant lady) and had promised to return no later than 4:00 that afternoon. They still had another half hour before Liz would consider them late, but she couldn't help but hope that, for once in his life, HellBoy would be early._

_ "3:30," Liz said softly in between her calming breaths. "Get home Red…"_

_ Her water had broken almost an hour ago, and she had sent Myers to the nearest house (over an hour away) to pick up Mrs. O'Brien, the older woman who owned the cottage they had been living in for the past seven months. Liz had been nervous about having Mrs. O'Brien help her deliver the babies; it wasn't everyday that you saw the birth of half demon children. But it was evident that it would be alright once Mrs. O'Brien set eyes on HellBoy. The old woman had smiled, patting Liz's hand as she whispered, "My, what a handsome brute."_

_ The door flew open, revealing a heavy rain storm which darkened the land outside. Mrs. O'Brien stepped inside, tossing her short white curls in an attempt to dry them. Myers followed her inside, shaking his head side to side like a dog as he tried to dry his short red-brown hair. "How are you holding up Liz?" He asked as he gently closed the door behind him. Mrs. O'Brien walked across the room toward Liz, placing on e hand on Liz's forehead, the other on her pregnant belly._

_ "Fine," Liz said with a small smile. "Not even hurting yet."_

_ Mrs. O'Brien tutted as she moved away from Liz and searched the bag on her shoulder. "Won't be long, though lass," she said, pulling out a small plastic bag with black leaves inside it. Mrs. O'Brien took on out and handed it to Liz. "Chew this dearie."_

_ Liz held the small black leaf in her hand, staring at it for a moment. "What is..?"_

_ "Never you mind dearie, just chew it. Mr. Myers, help me get Lizzie into the back room." Mrs. O'Brien took Liz's hand after she had put the leaf into her mouth. Liz stood, and with the help of Mrs. O' Brien and John, waddled into the back bedroom. The back room was actually the bedroom Liz and HellBoy shared. Mrs. O'Brien helped Liz to get into the bed as Liz chewed the leaf; it was bitter and after a few minutes of chewing, Liz felt like she was floating in comfortably warm water._

_ Liz didn't remember the pain of five hours (_**A/N: 5 hours! Go Liz!) **_of labor, or the actual event of giving birth of her daughter and son, but she did remember holding them after the fact. Her oldest, a beautifully pale little girl with her father's eyes, and her baby boy, fiery red like his father and with a fleshy right fist. H.B. had sat on the edge of the bed, his left arm around Liz as he kissed the top of her head and whispered, "You're my hero," as they stared down at their children._

_~*~_

Liz smiled as she had crossed her arms across her chest. She was almost to the room that she and H.B. shared, and although she was still slightly agitated with him, she loved him. She turned a corner, going down the long hallway toward her room, her memories switching to random mode as she walked. First teeth, first steps, and first words played through her mind on fast forward. Then suddenly, they stopped, her mind replaying a nightmare which she had had many times.

The dreams had started just after the birth of the twins, and featured them in various stages of their lives; the thought of the first time she had the dream, though, chilled Liz to the core. She found herself standing before the Angel of Death, it's large wings expanded as it moved away from her. Within its arm the Angel held Liz's children. _"The time will come and you my dear, will suffer more than anyone,"_ the Angel would say in its chilling voice as it slowly began to disappear with Blair and Trevor in its arms.

"No, please don't take them!" Liz would always try to go after them, but she was never able to move her feet. She would reach out for them, stretching so much it hurt. "Give them back to me! Trevor! Blair!"

It was always then that Liz would wake up, either on her own or because of H.B. gently shaking her, telling her it was just a bad dream. Liz shuddered as she stopped outside her room. She pulled the door open slowly, needing some comforting time with her husband. Her bad feeling had grown worse.

Author's Note:

I just wanted to say hello and thanks again to all the wonderful readers!!! I'm working as hard and quick as I can on this, and ideas for future stories ( possibly one focusing on Trevor and a possible romance for him :)) are quickly springing up!

Reviews are appreciated!

XX~BBTM


	11. On The Road Blowing Bubbles

**Author's Note: I just wanted to start off this chapter by saying Thanks so much to all the readers out there! I would also like to request that you all review (pretty pretty please???) I desperately want to know what you all think!**

**Also, this chapter is the longest I've written so far, but I'd like to think it's worth it, with a funny story told on the twins (and taken from my own life) at the end.**

**Lastly, I would like to go on the record: **_**I own nothing…sadly, this wonderful world which we all love and enjoy exploring is credited to Guillermo Del Toro and Mike Mignola (and is captured by the most amazing director of photography Guillermo Navarro :) ) Three cheers for them!!! **_

**And now, on with the new (and long) chapter!**

4:30 a.m. there was a flurry of activity throughout the halls of the BPRD as the agents moved within the facility, preparing for the departure of the Red team. Manning, always helpful in his own eyes, made the rounds and made sure everyone was awake. First came Abe ("Fish stick!" accompanied by taping on Abe's tank), the HellBoy and Liz (a firm knock on the heavy metal door with a stern yet frightened "Wake up!"), then Trevor (same as his parents), and then finally Blair.

Manning knocked on her door with a firm and less fearful, "Wake up call, kid." He began walking back down the hall toward his office when he heard Blair's door open. Manning turned back, curious, to see Liz standing in the hallway, her hair chopped short – right along her jaw bone all the way around with a side part and sloping bands- standing in the hallway.

Manning did a double take; it wasn't Liz in the hall before him, it was Blair, looking rather drowsy, wrapped in her father's blanket. In her left had she held a small black bag, in her right hand she clutched the arm of a worn looking teddy bear. As Blair trudged past him, Manning looked at the bear curiously. It was a dingy white with a charred left ear, and manning had the vague thought that his name was Be-Bear. What stumped him the most was how the bear had survived at all in the possession of the 'fire child.'

~*~

The Red team was loaded into the garbage truck among the computers, weapons, and artifacts by 5:00 a.m., much to Manning's delight. Although the truck had remained relatively unchanged throughout the years, there were a few comfortable additions added, making the cramped space seem even smaller. A small cot in the back corner (where Blair currently resided) and a table with a few small but comfortable chairs placed where they could fit accommodated the rest of the family, including 'Uncle' Abe.

"Alright people," Manning said as the team settled into different places within the truck (Liz closest to the sleeping Blair, HellBoy and Abe around the small table in the other corner, and Trevor sitting before the main computer keyboard and several monitors). "You'll be staying at the home of an informant for the Bureau; it's a farm about an hour outside the city. No neighbors, so you'll be able to be outside a little, if you're careful." Manning stared from HellBoy to Trevor.

Everyone nodded, wishing Manning would go ahead and let them leave. "If you find _**ANY**_ real vampire connections, you are to report back to me. DO NOT try to 'just handle it'." When no one responded to him, Manning sighed, stepped out of the truck and called, "Move 'em out!"

The hatch door closed, and the family settled into silence as the garbage truck began moving. Liz sat reading a battered copy of _Catcher in the Rye_, as her husband and brother played a relatively quiet game of four kings in a corner. Trevor was listening to music on the Zune he had received for Christmas a month before, nodding his head lightly to the beat of the music. Liz was insistent upon buying the music player for Trevor, telling her husband that she would not allow their son to collect every type of music listening and playing device available in his life time the way HellBoy had. Red had scoffed, but agreed to it, to make his wife happy (and to get her off his back).

Blair rolled over toward her mother, flinging her hand out toward her and waving it to get her attention. "Wat-ti-ss-et?"

Liz grinned at her daughter a little as she set her book in her lap and checked the watch on her left wrist. " 5:15; we're only just got on the road. You can sleep some more if you like."

Blair stretched and rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she sat up. "I've slept the greater part of 24 hours." She drew her legs up to her chest, settling Be-Bear in-between the two and placing her chin on her knees. Blair looked over at her father and uncle as they finished their card game; Abe shuffled the deck as HellBoy reclined in his chair.

" 'Bout time you woke up," H.B. said, smirking at his daughter. "I was just about to dump water on ya."

Blair rolled her eyes at her father as she let her eyes drift closed. "Well, if you had done that and gotten Be-Bear wet, I'd have killed ya." She opened her eyes and returned his smirk.

"Blair…" Liz said in a slightly warning tone.

"Yo, B." Trevor had removed his ear buds without turning off his Zune, his loud rock music a faint 'shaka shaka' to the rest of the truck. He motioned to his sister with his left hand, a rosary swinging from his wrist. "What's with the hair cut?"

Blair cut her eyes toward her younger brother. "It was too long; would have gotten in the way on the mission."

Trevor held up his hands to her, as if to say, 'Geez, I was just wondering.' Abe finished shuffling the deck of playing cards and sat them in the center of the table. "It looks good Blaires; I never would have thought of you to be talented with scissors."

The truck fell into a dead, awkward silence; scissors meant blades. Blair tugged on the ends of her long sleeves and wrapped her arms around her legs. Red pulled a cigar stub from the pocket of his large leather coat and began to chew on it, wanting to smoke, but knowing he couldn't within the small confines of the truck.

Liz cleared her throat as she placed a marker in her book. "So…" the awkward silence persisted, but Liz persevered. "Abe's right : you look nice Blair."

Blair glanced at her mother and smiled a little. "Thanks Mom."

Liz nodded a little and then clapped her hands together gently in her lap. "So, who's up for…um…whatever it is people do on road trips..?"

Right on cue, Trevor asked in a slightly winey voice, "Are we there yet?", as he put his ear buds back in. His rhetorical question cut the tension, but not by much.

Liz cleared her throat. "Well, what _do_ people do on road trips?"

"Not much of a trip," HellBoy grumbled through his cigar.

Blair blinked at her family. "I think that some people sing along with the radio," she said, almost to herself.

Out of nowhere, laughter shattered the silence; Liz was doubled over in her seat, a hand pressed over her mouth as she laughed almost hysterically. Red, Abe and Blair all eyed her strangely. "What's so funny?" Red asked his wife, removing the cigar stub from his teeth. Liz gasped for breath and managed to get out (in between laughs) "Can't Smile Without You." HellBoy's eyes widened slightly at his wife's comment, before he grinned and began laughing as well.

Abe joined in on the laughter as Blair eyed them with an eyebrow raised. Trevor watched his family laugh as he removed his ear buds once again. "What's so funny?"

Blair shrugged as their parents and uncle settled down. "It was before your time, I'm afraid," Abe said, coughing slightly as he forcibly ended his laughter.

Liz straightened back up in her chair as she composed herself. "We had some…interesting times before you two came along," she said, trying to choose her words wisely.

HellBoy gestured toward his wife with his left hand, his crucifix swinging much like Trevor's had. "Now, if you wanna talk about interesting times…" He paused for mild dramatic effect. "How about when the twins were three – "

"God, Dad, don't!" Blair moaned, hiding her face in her arms as she blushed dark red. "Not this story!"

"What?" Abe asked, partially in curiosity, but also to egg on his red counterpart. "I haven't heard this story, have I?"

Liz shook her head at Blue, a grin seeping onto her face despite her best efforts. "When Trevor and Blair were three, they had gotten caked in mud somehow while they played outside with Red."

"This was right after you moved out, Blue," Red said.

Liz nodded as she continued. "anyway, I put them in the tub and walked away for only 60 seconds of so to go get some towels out of the bedroom across the hall. I came back, and there was body wash all over the place, Blair's covering her face, and Trevor's freaking out screaming, "I didn't do it Mommy! I didn't do it!"."

"Oh God," Trevor groaned, realizing what story was being told. He ducked his head slightly in shame at the early childhood memory. He glanced at his older twin sister, apologizing with his eyes; Blair nodded at him slightly as their mother continued.

"So I asked Trevor, "What didn't you do?" , and he's watching his sister and freaking out. Then I looked at Blair and asked her what happened, and she starts to cry, and when she opens her mouth to wail…she blew a bubble."

Abe grinned (again, as best he could considering he technically couldn't), knowing where the story was going. "What is that?"

Liz chuckeled as she looked at her blue brother. "Trevor had squirted body wash into Blair's mouth and up her nose."

HellBoy laughed loudly and deeply as his son brought his head up. "It's not like I did it on purpose!"

Blair couldn't help but laugh; her father's rumbling laughter was slowly infecting the whole family.

"Liz came tearing out into the living room with Blair warpped in a towel, all frantic like, saying 'She's blowing bubbles! She's blowing bubbles!'." HellBoy choked as his laughter increased.

"It wasn't funny Red!" Liz laughed. "I thought it was going to choke or poison her!"

Abe held up a webbed hand to get someone's attention. "What did you do?"

Blair sighed as she rested her chin on her knees. "They had me blow my nose and gargle 'till the suds stopped."

The family continued to laugh, and Blair couldn't help but smile. It had been quite a while since she had laughed like that with her family. She hugged Be-Bear close as the family continued to tell stories, laughing and enjoying themselves, on the long trip to Coburn Gore, Maine.

**Yay! Long Chapter! Review please!!**


	12. Reunion and Introduction

**Author's Note:**

**Hello to all!!!! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update; school is whipping my tail, and all my music ensembles are having their concerts right now! But I will do my best to update regularly! **

**Now, onward!!**

The family stopped talking when the truck stopped moving. They had spent the long trip from New Jersey up to Maine laughing and talking, and being rather loud and rambunctious. The hatch door opened, and the family stood to both show respect to anyone preparing to enter the truck and to make themselves ready to walk out.

As the door opened, sun light seeped in, slowly blinding everyone; Liz put her right hand up in an attempt to block out the light, but actually managed to obscure her view as someone stepped into the truck. A relatively short and plump figure approached the group, and spoke to Liz a distinctly female and heavily Irish accented voice. "Well, look at ya'! If it in't Miss Lizzie and the handsome brute himself!"

Liz was gob-smacked, her mouth hanging open in a shocked uncharacteristic way as HellBoy came up beside her and stammered at the figure. "Mrs…Mrs. O'Brien?"

~*~

There had been hugs, mild laughter, jokes and chatting as Mrs. O'Brien led the family into her house. It was an architectural hybrid, a strange but charming mix between a small Victorian style mansion and a tiny farm house. They had all come in through the back door into a larger than average sized kitchen as Mrs. O'Brien clucked happily like a well fed hen.

"I was so excited when Tom said he was sending ya', I insisted that ya'd stay here; it's been so long since we've had guests, let alone old friends." Mrs. O'Brien left the family standing somewhat awkwardly in the center of the kitchen holding their few belongings as she went to the left wall. Her white curls bounced as she opened a pantry with double doors. The doors began to close slightly as the family watched her bend toward the ground and open a door in the floor. "Nick!" She called into the hole excitedly. "They're here! Make yourself presentable and come up!"

Mrs. O'Brien came back out and looked the Red team over. Putting her hands on her hips with a sigh as the pantry doors closed gently behind her she smiled. "Well, don't just stand there, makes yourselves comfortable!"

Trevor was the first to sit down at the small kitchen table in one of the four available wooden chairs around it. He still had his ear buds in, his music loud enough to fill the room with 'shaka shaka's. HellBoy walked up behind his son, thumping him on the back of his head with his left forefinger. "Take out the buds," he said in the most fatherly voice he could manage. His son obeyed, turning off the music player, wrapping the ear bud cords around it, and shoving it into the pocket of his black jeans.

Mrs. O'Brien moved about the kitchen, filling her coffee maker with grounds and water and turning it on, searching the cabinets for mugs and finger snacks. "I assume the twins take coffee like their parents. And what about you Abraham?"

Abe held up a webbed hand and shook his head slightly, "Oh, no, none for me, thank you Mrs. O'Brien."

HellBoy and Abe settled themselves on either side of the large window that allowed light to pour over the kitchen table, the two of them a strange mirror of the other with their arms crossed in front of them as they leaned against the wall. Liz and Blair each took a seat at the table, leaving one chair open for Mrs. O'Brien, who had once again gone over to the pantry to yell down the trap door. "Nicholas Riley O'Brien, you get your tail up here, or so help me – "

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" A lightly accented male voice responded to the incomplete threats; Mrs. O'Brien huffed as she came back into the kitchen. She began speaking with the family, asking what they would like to eat, how they took their coffee and the like, when someone came out of the pantry.

Blair was the first to see the young man who had joined them in the kitchen; he was around her age, possibly a little older, with pale skin and bright blue eyes. His hair was shaggy and slightly curled, and his face was covered with a light dusting of freckles. He stood in the pantry door way, wearing only a pair of blue jeans and a paint spattered black belt. His chest and abdomen were lightly muscular, nowhere near as impressive as HellBoy or Trevor, but still, impressive in comparison to most young men.

The young man met Blair's gaze as she looked him over, an eyebrow raised as if to ask, 'Why are you looking at me that funny way?' Blair blushed lightly, embarrassed both for being caught staring, but also for finding it hard to look away from him. She scolded herself mentally as she looked down at her hands and began picking at her cuticles.

"Ah, there he is," Mrs. O'Brien said, bringing coffee mugs to the table before walking over to the young man. Patting his arm and grinning broadly, she spoke with pride evident both on her face and in her voice. "This is my grandson, Mr. Nicholas Riley O'Brien; Handsome in't he?" Mrs. O'Brien winked toward Blair, who blushed a deeper red and returned to staring at her fingers.

HellBoy chuckled from his stop leaning against the wall. "_That's_ 'Little Nick?' Wow kid; you've grown…"

Liz nodded as she held her full coffee cup. "You're looking good Nick. Good to see you again."

Nick nodded, scratching his chin with his left hand; he had some minor facial scruff, the beginnings of a five o'clock shadow. "Thanks, um…What am I supposed to call you all again?"

Abe nodded toward everyone in their party as he introduced them, coming to Blair last. Blair picked at her fingers as she glanced up and offered a small 'Hello' to Nick.

Liz looked at her daughter with mild concern. "What's up Blair? You're awful quiet."

Blair looked up at her mother as Mrs. O'Brien began speaking with HellBoy and Trevor, making the comment, "Like Father - Like Son." Blair shook her head as she spoke. "I'm just really tired all of a sudden."

Mrs. O'Brien seemed to overhear Blair as she spoke to her mother. "Well, if you're tired dearie, why didn't you say so? Nick." Nick looked up at his grandmother from his spot beside the pantry. "Show Miss Blair up to the one of the spare rooms; preferably the one with the bathroom attached."

Nick nodded as he walked over to Blair and took her small bag from her; Be-Bear was sitting comfortably in the side pocket of the bag, his charred ear pointing toward the sky. Nick glanced at the bear before pulling the bag onto his shoulder and motioning for Blair to follow him. Blair got up from her seat and with one last glance at her family, walked with Nick from the kitchen.

Mrs. O'Brien chuckled as the couple left the room. "Well, this will certainly be an interesting visit, won't it?"

Liz nodded as she stared after her daughter, her bad feeling which had been persistent over the last twenty-four hours easing ever so slightly.

**Yay! Nick has finally arrived! You have no idea how excited I am about working with this character! He's one of my favorites!**

**Until next time!**

**XX~BBMT**


	13. Interrogations

I followed behind Nick, trying to look anywhere but at him. True, it was only his back that I could see, but that wasn't the point. _"What is wrong with me?"_ I wondered. _"I'm blushing like a complete idiot…"_ I kept my eyes on the floor, watching my black shoes appear and disappear as I walked.

"Watch your step," Nick said to me over his shoulder as we came to a stair case at the end of the main hallway. I muttered a thank you as we ascended the stairs. I took a mental note on his accent; it wasn't the deep Irish that his grandmother spoke with, it was lighter, more diluted in a way. We reached the top of the stair case and Nick pressed forward into a room right across the hall from the landing. "This is where you'll be staying."

In the late afternoon sunlight, the room seemed to glow; it was every possible shade of yellow, all bright and reminding me vaguely of baby clothes at Easter. There was a twin sized bed sitting below a large bay window, which had extra cushions on the ledge. Clearly the bed had not always been there, but it was a rather romantic set up: being able to sit in the window and then curl up in your bed without taking a step. "Wow," I breathed, moving around the room to get a better look.

There was a book shelf on the wall to my right, towering from the floor to the ceiling filled with all sorts of books, movies, and C.D.s. Upon inspection, the C.D.s revealed to me the names of many different composers of western art music, some extremely famous, others virtually unknown to the average person. I knelt down onto the floor in front of the book case, looking at all the music when I heard a faint chuckle behind me.

I looked up at Nick, having forgotten he was there. My face flared up again, and I ducked my face, letting my bangs fall into in front of it, shielding me from him. "Sorry," I mumbled, not entirely sure what I was sorry for. _"Let's see, for blushing like a retarded school girl with a crush, or possibly for forgetting your rather attractive host was still in the room…"_

Nick set my bag down on the bed as he spoke to me. "If you think Gram's music is impressive, you'll drop your jaw at mine." He didn't sound overly proud or boastful; his voice was truthful and honest, and very kind and soft. The soft lyric of his strange accent was enough to make any girl's heart melt. _"But not yours, seeing as you just met the guy. Besides, you're tainted goods sweetheart. Doubt it if he's interested…"_

I made a mental note to look into getting that nagging voice in my brain to shut up, and then turned toward Nick. "Where are you from?"

He looked a little confused at my question, but he grinned as he took a seat on the bed. "You're wondering about the way I speak, right?"

I nodded as I rolled back to sit on the floor on my butt, my legs splayed out on the floor in front of me in a rather child like way. Nick scratched his forehead through his curly red bangs. "Well, I was born in Ireland, and my Mum, Da, and I moved to London when I was around six. They both passed away when I was ten, so I went to live with Gram, and we decided to move here. I guess my speech was affected by all the different influences." He gave me a sort of half grin, and I swear my heart fluttered.

_"What the hell is wrong with me?"_ "That's cool," I said. "I've lived in New Jersey most of my life – since I was six. I don't remember where we lived before that."

Nick cocked his head at me in slight confusion. "You lived in Ireland, Blair."

I mirrored his look. "How do you know?"

"Because," Nick said, slight annoyance in his tone at my obliviousness. "Gram was your Mum's midwife; she delivered you and your brother."

I nodded slowly, not sure what to say. I mean, he seemed honest enough, but I mean, I did just meet the guy, so I couldn't be too sure about his reliability. Then again, I highly doubted Mrs. O'Brien was the BPRD informant, and if the government could trust him, I supposed I could. "So we lived in Ireland…" I said. "Very cool. Too bad I didn't develop an accent…"

Nick laughed at me from his place on the bed. "That's probably the strangest thing I've ever heard anyone say," he said, laughing again. Something about his laugh struck a chord somewhere deep within my memories; it was so familiar, but I couldn't place it.

I furrowed my brow in thought at him, wondering why he seemed so familiar. I opened my mouth to interrogate him further, but he beat me to the punch, slipping from the bed onto the floor as he spoke. "So, little girl, what brings you here with your family? It's my understanding that you aren't a BPRD agent…"

I looked him over as the mimicked my seated position. "They needed someone who could go into the field," I said, giving him a good once over, from his bare feet to his bright blue eyes. "My lack of a tail and horns made me a prime candidate. Now you, little boy, you're the BPRD informant, aren't you?"

"I'm not at liberty to say," Nick said with a wink as he scratched his chin. "If I told ya', I'd have to kill ya'."

I narrowed my eyes at his joke. "You've got an in with the 'vampires' around here, don't you?" I asked, using air quotations the Manning had.

Nick's eyes narrowed at me. "What of it?" His arms tensed as he glared at me. I was somewhat taken aback. _"Defensive much?"_

"What?" I asked, pulling my legs in and crossing them Indian-style. "I'm not accusing you of being some undead sucker boy; I just assumed that your Gram wasn't the one keeping tabs on the local night life."

Nick exhaled sharply, as if agitated, and stood up. His quick movement startled me a little, and I leaned back to look up into his face. He had a strange grin on his face, with his lips pulled back enough to where his teeth were visible. Had I been completely insane, I would have sworn that he had suddenly sprouted fangs. "Sure thing, little girl," he said, his voice low and thick, frightening in comparison to his original voice. "Come down to my dungeon later tonight…unless you're afraid."

He walked to the door, looked at me one last time, his expression still dark, and then left, closing the door behind him. I quickly stood as the door clicked shut, grabbing Be-Bear from my bag as I stared at the door defiantly. "I'm not afraid," I said aloud, hugging my bear tightly.

_"Yeah right, you're scared shitless…"_

**Hello all! Sorry it's taken me so long to update (although it hasn't been too terribly long), I've been buried alive with projects and homework, but things are starting to lighten up.**

**I must as: PLEASE REVIEW! I don't know what you all think unless you all, you know: tell me! **

**Also, slight warning: This is evolving into a story centered around the relationship of HellBoy and Liz's daughter with a vampire (Blugh, I know, but I couldn't help it…Elves didn't really go over that well in the second movie, and besides, vampires were sexy before Rob Pattinson came along…)**

**Any who, the story will still have a lot to do with Blair's relationship with her parents also, as her relationship with Nick grows. Sadly, I'm neglecting Trevor in this story, but don't worry folks, his screen time will come :)!**

**Thanks so much for reading, and please review!**

**~~XX BBTM**


	14. Discoveries and Plans

Liz, HellBoy, Abe and Mrs. O'Brien had all taken a seat around the table, drinking coffee and chatting when Nick came back into the kitchen. "She's settled," he said, before walking into the pantry and descending into his underground room.

Mrs. O'Brien sighed as her grandson left the room as quickly as he came. "I'm sorry if he seems rude – "

"Not at all," Liz said, her gaze drifting to traveling out the window to the large rundown barn in the back yard. The BPRD truck was parked behind it, in a small forest opening, where it was to remain hidden until they began their field work. Liz was beginning to wonder when exactly that was.

As if reading her thoughts, HellBoy addressed their hostess. "Mrs. O'Brien, it's very nice of you to take care of all of us, but we really should get to work on our investigation."

Mrs. O'Brien took a sip of her coffee before she smiled at him. "Well, ya' can't be doing any work tonight. All those vampire clubs are closed on Sunday nights. Just about everything's closed on Sunday nights. So, we'll have a nice dinner with everyone, and you all can get some rest in warm beds, and you'll begin your work tomorrow night. Not that there's much you'll have to do."

Abe glanced at the older woman curiously. "Why is that?" He asked. "It's my understanding that there are close to fifty vampire clubs in and around the city. We would need to investigate all of them to make sure things were – "Abe stopped short as he read Mrs. O'Brien's emotions.

Mrs. O'Brien had grown quiet, a sad sort of grin on her face. "You see, Abraham, my grandson knows those monster better that any of ya' could ever hope to." She paused, looking around the table, her gaze landing on Liz before she spoke. "Nicholas is a vampire; he was changed around, oh, five years ago, or so. He performs with his band in the only club that has real vampires in it."

It got quiet for a few moments, before Mrs. O'Brien continued. "My grandson is your informant, and he believes he may know who was behind the deaths of those three poor girls. They were all about Blair's age…" She shook her head. "Nicholas plans to have you all come to the club, do some digging, and if you confirmed his suspicions, he will speak with Manning about what to do next."

HellBoy held up his left hand to the older woman. "Wait, wait, wait…How did he become a vampire?"

Mrs. O'Brien's shoulders sagged a little, her sad smile disappearing. "The female singer in that band of his changed him - changed everyone in the group. She even killed their guitarist, so Nick ended up learning how to play that along with percussion. Damn hussy…"

Liz looked sadly at her old friend. She knew, deep down, that she wanted to destroy anyone who would hurt her family. "Dose the damn hussy still come around?"

The sound of a throat being cleared near the pantry got their attention. Nick stood there, now wearing a black tee shirt with his pants and belt. His face was smoother, and his red mane of hair had been tamed somewhat with a comb. "Yes, she comes around; and her name is Reagan, Gram. Not Damn Hussy…" He shook his head as he walked toward the back door.

"Where you going kid?" HellBoy asked as Nick opened the back door.

"Band rehearsal in the barn. Tell Blair to come out and have some fun; she smells like she needs it." Nick stepped out the back door, closing it behind him.

HellBoy shook his head. "Like hell I'll send my daughter out to 'have fun' with a bunch of vampires."

"Red…" Liz said in a warning tone. "She can handle herself."

HellBoy cut his gaze at his wife before sighing in defeat and looking to Mrs. O'Brien. "So what's for dinner?"

~*~

After another couple of hours, the Red team had been fed by Mrs. O'Brien. How the older woman had managed to cook for everyone _and_ HellBoy was a wonder, but she had done well. A large pot of beef and vegetable stew sat on the stove, simmering in the place of the five earlier pots, rolls warmed in the oven, and a large salad bowl sat on the counter. The group (Blair, Trevor [who had returned from hiding in the truck], HellBoy, Liz, Abe, and Mrs. O'Brien) had enjoyed their meals, and had now fallen into a nice conversation about their lives since they had all last seen each other.

Blair didn't talk too much, and finally, after placing her empty stew bowl in the sink, slipped outside into the darkening back yard. It was only around six thirty in the evening, but seeing how far north they were and the time of year it was, it didn't surprise her how dark it was out. The only light Blair could see came from the large kitchen window of the house and the large barn doors, which were thrown open to the night.

There had been loud music coming from the barn earlier, but it had stopped some time ago, and was replaced with the murmur of raised voices. Blair began walking to the barn through the dark, curious, as to who was in the barn and what they were discussing so loudly. As she came closer, she began to understand what some of the voices were saying, and she could even tell that there were three male voices against one female. Once Blair was just outside the door, she leaned against the wooden exterior of the building, listening.

"Bloody bitch! You knew what we we're planning, but do you listen? No…"

_"Nick?"_ Blair wondered as she listened. He sounded angry, like he wanted to rip off someone's head…Or…_"Rip out their throat…"_ "Stupid voice," she mumbled as she listened more.

There was a light female laugh. "You know what? Forget all of you…Aiden is more fun anyway."

"Sure," a second male voice with a heavy Boston accent cooed. "But you only know that Aiden keeps you around because you became his two bit whore of the month."

There was a growl, and then the female spoke again. "At least I'm not like little Nicky here, promising myself to a stupid human _snack_." There was venom in her voice. _"Someone's crush got crushed hard…" _Blair thought.

Without warning, the female stalked out of the barn, pausing to look at Blair through the darkness. She glared, calling over her shoulder, "Your _snack_ is here Nicky!"

Nick came stomping out of the barn. "Reagan, you get back here or I'll –"He stopped short when he noticed Blair trying to stay hidden along the barn. "Blair," he breathed, walking over to her. He towered over hear by almost a foot, and as they altered their gazes to look at one another, Blair's pretty face was marred with confusion. _"Snack? Promised to..?"_ She wondered.

Two men followed Nick out of the barn, looking after the female – Reagan – who had already disappeared. In the darkness with only the light from the barn lighting them from behind, Blair couldn't make out anything about the two other than they were both taller than her and rather thin. The one to the left, who Blair hadn't heard speak earlier, addressed the couple first. "So _this_ is Blair? Nice choice Nick…"

Nick glared over his shoulder as the other male nodded in agreement. Once he returned his gaze to Blair, he grinned a little. "I take it you weren't afraid, huh?"

Blair nodded to him as he motioned toward the open barn door. "Let's take this inside," he said, putting an arm around Blair's shoulders and guiding her into the barn. Upon entering, Blair saw that the light was from a series of light bulbs wired into the walls about ten feet overhead. What she assumed was the loft was dark, and the entire building smelled of hay and wood. Along the back wall stood a make shift stage made of random boxes which had been bound together in every imaginable way.

On the stage were several large speakers, connected to microphones poised in their stands and guitars resting in their guitar holds. There was also an electric keyboard, sitting off to the side of the stage, a chord hanging loosely from the back of it. "So _that's_ where all that music came from…" Blair murmured as the three young men left her to climb onto the stage.

"Well," the Boston accented male said, picking up a bass guitar, putting the strap over his shoulders and lightly strumming the strings. Music hummed from the speakers. "Guess rehearsal is over."

Nick sat down at the drum set which was towards the back of the stage, in the center. "Damn," he cursed, reminding Blair of her father. "I was sure that we could get in the VIP room to spy on Aiden and Aiken." He shook his head. "Without a singer, we're screwed."

The other young man took up the remaining guitar as he ran a hand through his short black hair. Cut in an emo style, accompanied by pasty white skin, heavy eye makeup, and droopy speech, Blair had to fight the urge to yawn as he spoke. "Guess so. Now Nick, aren't you going to introduce us to your…_fragrant_ little morsel?" He spoke slowly, testing his words.

Nick shook his head in annoyance as he spun a drum stick around in his hand. "BTFO Tobias. Blair met Dumb and Dumber, the artists formally known as Tobias and Franklin." The 'emo' guy – Tobias - waved lightly to Blair with his index finger, his nail painted black, and the Boston boy – Franklin – nodded to her in acknowledgement. Franklin wore blue jeans, a Full Metal Alchemist tee shirt and black converses. Tobias wore a thin, black cotton sweatshirt, black Levi's, and black Vans.

Blair shivered as a breeze came in through the barn doors; it was cold out, and how the boys managed to be so lightly clad, Blair didn't know. She tugged the sleeves of her black long sleeved shirt down, pulling the fabric over her fingers. "Sorry," she said. "About your band troubles, I mean."

Nick shook his head, and then adjusted his grip on his drum sticks, playing a heavy beat on the set. Franklin began strumming a bass part, and Tobias joined in with a surging guitar melody. Blair recognized the song almost immediately: "Again" by Flyleaf. One of her favorites. She began moving to the music, unable to help herself as she threw her head around with Nick's beat, her short black hair dancing around her face as she gently lifted her arms into the air and swayed.

Lost in the music, not totally aware of her actions, Blair sang, as if she were alone in her car, or in the dance studio at home. When the music finally came to an end, Blair stood on her toes, her arms stretched into the air. It grew silent as the young men on the stage stared at her in awe.

Growing self conscious now that the roar of the music had receded, Blair relaxed and wrapped her arms around herself. "Sorry," she mumbled again. "I'll just um…go."

"No, wait!" Nick stood up from the drum set, holding a hand up to stop Blair. He walked up to the edge of the stage, hopped down and walked up to her. "What the hell was that?"

Blair looked at him in alarm, wondering what he was so agitated about. "W-I just…I mean."

Nick shook his head and gently rested a hand on her shoulder. "That was great!" He flashed her a smile, and her knees felt like melting butter. "How do you feel about singing in a vampire club?"

**Author's Note: Yay! Finally! And I am proud to say that I completed this chapter while eating my first Baby Ruth bar! Yummy!**

**Read and Review!**

**~XX~BBTM**


	15. No Way In Hell Into The Dungeon

"No."

"Dad, just listen to – "

"No."

"C'mon H.B., this could really work! If you'd just let me –"

"No!" Dad's voice boomed throughout the small kitchen. He had his arms crossed across his chest, a deep scowl on his face. Mom was sitting to his left, and had placed what I'm sure was supposed to be a calming hand on his shoulder. "It's not happening! No way in hell."

Mom gently patted Dad's shoulder with her hand. "Red, why can't you just hear them out? I mean, it sounds like a good enough plan to gain access to the vampires in the club."

Dad glared from Nick to me to Mom. "There is no way in _hell_ I'm letting my daughter go into a club full of blood sucking mother – "

"_Red!_" Mom sighed in warning exasperation. She shook her head in defeat as she removed her hand from his shoulder.

I stepped forward to address them. "Listen Dad: This could really work. And it's not like I'll be in any real danger – Nick will be there the whole time, so will Tobias and Franklin."

Dad shook his head as he stood from his chair, towering over me. "It's not happening, Blair. When I agreed to let you come on this mission, I had no intentions of having you go into the field. "

"That's the whole reason I came!" I spit back. "It's not like you can go into the field, what with the redness and the horns!"

Dad's scowl grew deeper and a glare came into his eyes. "You know what Blair; you're my child, so what I say: goes."

"I'm eighteen," I said, scowling back at him and crossing my arms across my chest.

"You live in my house, so you'll go by my rules!"

"It's not _your_ house! Its government funded!"

Dad staggered a bit; I had hit a nerve. It had always bothered him that we had been forced back to the BPRD, and that he and my mother had given up a home of their own in order to do what was best for Trevor and I. "You know what? Fine. But don't come crying to me when someone bites you." He turned and stormed into the hall.

"Red!" Mom called after him. She looked at me as if she were about to say something, then shook her head and took off after my Dad. I exhaled, glad that it was more or less over, until I had to go apologize. I glanced over my shoulder at Nick, who was leaning against the wall beside the pantry, his arms crossed across his chest (a popular stance among my current company.)

"So," he started, standing straight from the wall. "Ready for a trip to the dungeon?"

I glanced at him warily. _"Why the hell has he taken such an interest in me?"_ My head voice chide as Nick held his hand out to me. I took it, and he led me into the pantry and down through a trap door in the floor. We descended a dark and narrow stair case, which sounded wooden based on our foot falls. "Watch your step," Nick said softly as his grip tightened on my hand. I eyed it with confusion in the darkness as we reached the bottom of the staircase.

We entered a large room through an open door way, and Nick released my hand and left me standing at the door as he went to turn on the lights. When the overhead light snapped on, I cringed, blinded by the brightness. After they adjusted, my eyes took in the room. I couldn't help but gawk.

The long wall on my left was completely covered in shelves, holding books, C.D.s, D.V.D.s, and the occasional VHS tapes. To my right, aligned with the door, was a twin sized bed with dark blue bedding, and along that wall, starting at the foot, were more shelves, these holding various knick-knacks and treasures. On the wall directly in front of me had and entertainment system spanning it, with a large old television, large old stereo, and a newer VHS and D.V.D player combo.

"Wow," I breathed as I stepped forward into the room; the floor was carpeted, and I could feel the softness through my shoes. I went to the many books and began scanning the spines as I heard Nick sit down on his bed with a squeak. "You have so many books." I pulled one from the shelf. It was one of my favorites, _The Summoning _By Kelley Armstrong.

"You can borrow that if you like," Nick said. I turned to him to see him sitting Indian style on his bed, his shoes having been discarded on the floor beside it. He had a folder open on his lap and a pencil in his hand.

I shook my head as he smiled at me, and turned to both place the book back and to avoid looking at him. _"Damn face, acting up again…"_ "No, that's okay. I'm sorry. I keep forgetting you're around." I giggled a little, nervous for some strange reason.

Nick chuckled as I glanced back at him. "I guess that means you're comfortable around me; that's a shame. I'd hoped to be intimidating."

I raised an eyebrow as I turned to face him. He had a dark grin on his face, the same from earlier in the day when we had been upstairs in the guest room. "Why would you want to be intimidating?" I asked, crossing the room to stand in front of him.

He chuckled darkly as he set his work aside and stood up in front of me. We were only a few feet apart, and he glared up at me, his red bangs casting a shadow on his face. "I'm a monster, Blair. No matter how hard I try, my true nature always comes out." So quick I didn't notice, he was on me, his right arm wrapped around my shoulders, his left cradling my back as he dipped me backwards, in a frightful dance move.

I inhaled sharply, not wanting my fear to show, but failing. My pulse raced as he skirted his lips across the hollow of my neck. "Tobias was right when he called you fragrant," he said darkly as I felt teeth brush my skin.

I squeaked despite myself and clenched my hands into fists, conjuring weak blue flames. Nick stood me up right and released me quickly, and I snuffed my flames out. "I won't hurt you, Blair. But I need you to be afraid of me."

"Mission accomplished," I sighed darkly as I glared up at him. "Why the hell have you taken such a liking toward me? Is it because I smell good, or are you always so fresh with girls?"

Nick stood before me, a faint smirk on his handsome face. "No, it's not just because you smell good, and I'm definitely not fresh with girls."

"Well then, what is it?" I demanded, putting my hands on my hips. It was strange, how much stronger I felt since leaving home. I wasn't afraid to speak up, and I hadn't had the urge to hurt myself since leaving. I was slightly taken aback by my own boldness, and I took my hands off of my hips and let them hang at my side. Feeling awkward, I crossed my arms.

Nick closed the space between us, reaching a hand towards me. "You will see," he said softly as he placed his palm on my fore head.

When his hand made contact, the world blackened. As it came back into focus, I stood in the cottage from my childhood, my back against the wall across from the couch. Nick stood beside me, an arm around behind me, poised to catch me if I fell. "Where are we?" I asked.

Nick smiled as he gestured to a little boy sitting on the couch; with a mop of red hair on top of his head, it was easy to tell that this was Nick as he had been as a child. "Inside a memory from my childhood. My family has always had some sort of psychic abilities. Mine allow me to visit the memories of myself and others and view them as an outsider."

I glared at him in annoyance. "Okay, so _why_ exactly are we here?"

"You'll see," he said, nodding his head toward the little boy on the couch. He was holding his arms out toward an older woman – "_Mrs. O'Brien,"_ I thought – who had walked out of the back bedroom holding a small bundle. She laid it into his arms, and I could see that there was a baby in it. It had a tuff of black hair on top of its head, pale skin, and large yellow eyes.

"Is that me?" I asked as the baby reached up her arms, wrapping her hands around one of the boy's fingers. She cooed up at him, and the boy smiled.

"Yes," Nick said softly, bending down to whisper in my ear, so as not to disturb the scene before us. "And that's me."

The little boy smiled up at Mrs. O'Brien, who was moving about the kitchen preparing some sort of meal. "Hey Gram, guess what!" The little boy bounced the baby lightly in his arms, receiving a laugh from the infant.

"What is it dearie?" Mrs. O'Brien asked as she continued her work about the kitchen.

The little boy looked at his grandmother one last time before looking back down at the baby in his arms. His grin widened as he spoke. "I've made a really important decision."

"Oh?" Mrs. O'Brien said.

Little Nick nodded. "Yep," he said, pulling his finger out of the baby's hands and gently stroking her plump cheek with it. "I've decided that when I'm all grown up, I'm going to marry Blair." The baby began gooing in response to hearing her name. "Do you think Mr. and Mrs. Broom would like that?"

As the world began to fade to black again, I heard Mrs. O'Brien laugh. "I think they would be very happy to hear that Nicholas."

I blinked as Nick's room came into focus. We were still standing exactly where we had been as he lowered his hand from my forehead. "As you can see, Blair, I've always had a liking toward you. Since the first time I saw you."

He turned and sat down on his bed, resting his elbows on his knees before looking up at me. He grinned, and for some reason, my knees _did_ turn to mush, and I fell onto the soft brown carpet. "I-I don't get it!" I squeaked, placing my hands on the floor between my knees and staring down at them. "I mean, you were what, five? And I was just a baby! It's not like you actually took that seriously! I mean, what kind of weirdo would actually stick to something they said when they were five year-"

I was cut short by Nick reaching down and grabbing my wrist. I looked up at him as he pulled me toward him, and for some strange reason, he kissed me, full on the lips. My eyes were wide (I mean, the dude had already told me that I should be afraid of him, and he acted like he was going to _bite_ me!), and I yelped against his lips.

It felt like an eternity had passed before he pulled away. And for another strange reason, down in the pit of my stomach, I left empty as he pulled back to look at me. _"Well _that's_ new,"_ my annoying inner voice said. "_I'm_ the kind of person who would stick to something I said when I was five years old. And I don't expect you to get it. _I don't _get it. It just is!" Nick looked me over as I sat on my knees in front of him.

I realized how close we were, how familiar that position was. Flash backs of the previous summer came to my mind. Andrew and I making out in a spare bedroom, him sitting on the edge of the bed, much like Nick was, me sitting on my knees on the floor in front of him.

I pushed away, falling on my side as I tried to escape the images. "No, not again!" _"Told ya' you were damaged goods girly! This is what you get for thinking you can ever be normal!"_ "Shut UP!"

I pushed myself up, covering my ears and squeezing my eyes shut as that night replayed in my head. Andrew's wicked grin, his monstrous way of saying my name, as if what he was doing was _ok._

Nick had come to kneel beside me. "What's wrong?" He asked concern heavy on his face.

I could hear my own voice in my head as Nick placed his hands over mine.

_"No, don't! Please stop!"_

_ "Shut up!"_

_ "STOP!"_

"STOP IT!"

I dug my nails into my head, trying to fight the urge to ignite as the images suddenly began rolling in reverse. And then, just as suddenly, my whole life was playing on rewind, from the day I had arrived at Nick's home until I was a young child again.

We shot apart, Nick falling onto his butt in a sitting position, me falling back onto my side. We were panting, as if we had just run a marathon in tandem, and I hear Nick murmur under his breath. "My god."

I looked up at him, not sure if I should run away or try to become one with the floor. "_He knows,"_ I thought. "_No shit Sherlock,"_ the voice chided. Nick reached for me, but I jumped away, getting to my feet and starting to leave the room. "Wait," he said softly.

My feet stopped all on their own, leaving me stranded in the door way. "So, you see now," I said, hanging my head. "I'm really screwed up; it would probably be better for you to change your mind on that whole marriage thing. I probably won't last that long."

I felt a hand wrap around my wrist again, and was jerked around as Nick pulled up my sleeve to reveal the web of cuts and scars going down my arm. I tried to pull away, but Nick held tight, inspecting the damage. "I've got it," he said softly, releasing my arm and returning to his bed.

"Got what?" I asked in a mix of curiosity and anger.

"How we'll get you into the club. We'll pass you off as my pair bond." Nick said.

"Let me guess, that means I'm your fuck buddy and I let you feed of me, right?"

He looked at me in surprise. "How did you know?"

"Because this whole damn situation is a predictable cliché!" I scoffed as I ascended the stairs. "I'm going to bed."

I heard Nick's voice follow me up the dungeon stairs. "Be in the barn at noon. We'll rehearse the set list."

**Oh**

**My **

**God!!!!**

**Long freaking chapter!!!!!!**

**Hope you like!**

**Read and Review!!!!**


	16. Preparing for the Slaughter

The following day came too soon for Blair, who was trying to adjust to late nights. She woke at eleven and decided that a shower would be a good idea. Gathering her things into her arms, she stepped out into the hall, only the stop in the door way as her father came down the hall toward the staircase.

HellBoy looked his daughter over, messy hair to painted toe nails and gave her a weak smile. "Morning," he said softly, passing her and heading down the stairs.

"Dad," she said after him. He paused on the stairs and looked over his shoulder at her. She walked down the steps toward him, rearranging her load of bathing essentials in her arms as she went. HellBoy turned to face Blair, who stood three stairs above him, making them equal height. "I'm sorry about what I said yesterday," she said softly, holding her right hand out to him.

He smiled at her and held his left index finger out to her. She wrapped her hand around it in a gesture they had shared since she was born. "I'm sorry too," HellBoy said, his tail swishing lightly behind him. "Just be careful out there."

Blair smiled at her father and nodded as she released his finger and turned away from him to go back up the stairs. "Don't worry Dad, 'Careful' is my middle name."

HellBoy chuckled as he watched his daughter ascend the steps and begin heading toward the bathroom. "Right, Kiddo." He shook his head lightly as he walked down the stairs and then turned down the hall to go to the kitchen. Smelled like pamcakes.

~*~

After a hot shower, Blair felt good enough to take on just about anything, including a group of weirdo vampire boys. She had gone back to her room the night before after Nick had read her thoughts (or more like visited), and had taken what was left of her sleeping medication. Six light blue pills later, she had managed to go to sleep, clutching Be-Bear to her chest, and hadn't be bothered with dreams.

Dressed in black jeans and a long black sweater, she ran a brush though her short wet hair. What had possessed her to cut her hair off was a mystery to her, but she had to admit, the job had been well done. The way her black hair framed her face was nice, and it made her look older than her eighteen years.

She finished in the bathroom, and returned her toiletries to her room before heading down the stairs and into the kitchen. Mrs. O'Brien had a red apron on over her blue jeans and button down shirt; she held a spatula in one hand and a plate of pamcakes in the other. When she spotted Blair, she smiled and motioned toward the table. "Take a seat and eat with us dearie!"

Blair smiled at the old woman's cheerful tone. "No thanks, Mrs. O'Brien. Has Nick come up yet?" Blair playfully snatched a pamcake off the top of Trevor's large pile and rolled it into a burrito shape before biting off the end.

"Not yet; why don't you go down and see if he wants to come join us?" Blair nodded at Mrs. O'Brien's request and walked into the pantry and down the small staircase to Nick's room. _"Wonder why he lives down here…"_ Blair pondered as she descended the stairs slowly, so as not to lose her footing in the darkness. _"It's not like he can't be out in the sunlight…"_

HellBoy, Liz, Trevor and Abe all sat around the table and watched Blair descend the stairs. "_She_ seems to be doing better," Trevor scoffed, cutting into his remaining pamcakes with his fork.

HellBoy nodded and spoke through a full mouth. "Sef's resiflien li 'er ol ma."**(Author's Note: "She's resilient like her old man.")**

Liz shook her head at her husband. "Chew, swallow, _then_ speak Red."

Abe poked at his hard boiled eggs with a gloomy presence about him. "Something is not right," he said softly, folding his hands in front of him on the table.

Mrs. O'Brien finished up with the cooking and finally joined the family at the table. "What makes you say that Abraham?"

Everyone turned their attention to Abe as he shook his head and spoke. "There's so much in her head right now, everything's just a jumbled up mess. She _is_ doing better, coping with what all has gone on, but I'm worried that she may create new problems for herself."

Liz shook a hand at him as she reached for her coffee mug. "Don't jinx us Abe," she said, taking a sip of her black swill. "If she hasn't created problems for herself yet, don't worry about it."

HellBoy nodded as he swallowed. "She's right Blue; besides, after what she's been through, I'm sure Blair can handle just about anything. Including a group of teenage vampire _boys._"

"You're not going to let this go anytime soon, are you?" Liz asked, glaring at Red over the rim of her mug.

"What?" HellBoy asked defensively. "I'm a man who's worried about having his daughter be alone with a bunch of boys who, in addition to having raging hormones, are _vampires._"

"You called?" The group at the table turned toward the pantry, where Nick and Blair both stood. His attire mirrored hers – black pants with a black sweater. He strode across the room and kissed his grandmother on the cheek before taking a pamcake from the main pile everyone was supposed to receive their breakfast from, and eating it in the exact same fashion as Blair had.

"Really," Mrs. O'Brien sighed sadly. "The two of you should join us! If you don't like hot cakes, I can always make you something else."

Nick shook his head. "No thanks Gram; lots of hard work to do." He returned to Blair's side, took her hand in his and led her out the door into the back yard.

The cold wind made Liz shudder. "Alright Blue; I see what you mean about the possibility of problems."

HellBoy grumbled in agreement with his wife as he watched his only daughter through the window, walking hand in hand with a person who could break her so easily that it frightened him. They had all come so close to losing her once already, in such a short amount of time, to the hands of a young man they all thought highly of. Imagine the terrible things that could go on with a young man they weren't entirely sure they trusted.

~*~

Nick and Blair walked to the barn in silence, his hand wrapped firmly around hers. As they came closer to the barn, they could hear rowdy laughter from within, meaning that Franklin and Tobias were already there. Blair withdrew her hand from Nick's, not wanting the other two guys to see. Nick glanced at her as they walked into the barn, greeted by whoops and cat calls.

"Morning Boss!" Franklin waved from his perch on the stage. He wore black jeans, a red InuYasha tee, and his black converses from the night before. He stood and walked to his bass guitar, taking it up in his hands. "Time for work, Tobias!"

Tobias popped out from behind the stage, wearing a red long sleeved shirt with the black Levis and vans. "'Bout time boss man and his yummy girl showed up!" He hopped up onto the stage, walking up to the front left corner, opposite Franklin. He took up his guitar, slinging the strap across his shoulders.

Blair rolled her eyes as she came to stand in front of the stage; Nick has already hopped up to join his band mates, taking a seat behind his drum set. "I've got a name you know," she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Wow, I'm impressed!" Franklin winked and smiled at her as he strummed his guitar strings; a pleasant minor chord poured from the speakers and rang through the barn.

"So," Blair started with a breathy sigh. It wasn't too hard to act like a flirty high school girl around all those boys. _"Till they remind you of Andrew."_ "What's the plan?"

Nick looked at her as the twirled his drum sticks in both of his hands. "We'll start out with just us three, doing some of our hits-"

"By 'hits', he means covers we do well," Tobias winked at Blair with a smile.

Nick shook his head. "Anyway, after a few songs as an intro to warm the crowd up, we'll bring you out to lead a few. We'll be on stage twenty minutes' tops. After that, we mingle around the club and hope Aiden and Aiken enjoyed us enough to invite us to the VIP room. That's when the real work will begin."

Blair nodded as she chewed her bottom lip. "Okay. So what's the set list exactly?"

Nick halted his stick twirling, taking both of the drum sticks in his left hand to reach into his back pocket with his right. He read off a small slip of paper. "There's 'Topless' with Tobias on bass, Franklin on drums, me on lead guitar and vocals. Then we have 'Animal I Have Become' with me on bass, Frank on lead guitar and vocals, and Tobias on drums. And then we move into 'Forget to Remember' with us in our usual set up instrumentally and all of us providing vocals in some way. "

He paused as Blair committed the information to memory. She nodded to him to continue. "We'll have a bit of a break to talk with the crowd and introduce you before you come out with "Heaven's a Lie", "Misery Business", "Much like Falling", and then "Chasm". You think you can handle it?"

Blair eyed him with mock annoyance. "Just go ask my steering wheel – I've done more than that between home and school every morning."

Franklin gave a low whistle as he eyed her. "You here that Nick? Your girl's got skills."

Nick grinned at Blair a little as he spoke. "Well, let's prepare for this slaughter. You ready, Little Lamb?"

Blair drew back slightly, a small amount of fear trying to claw its way to the surface. After a moment, she decided and hopped up onto the stage. "Let's do it."

~*~

They had rehearsed all day, stopping only to go inside for food (Blair had marveled at the boy's actually _eating_. "We still need blood," Tobias explained to her when she had asked. "We just try to take a page out of the Cullens' book by getting our fill somewhere _other_ than the necks of attractive young women.") Before they were aware of it, the garbage truck had been pulled out and the red team loaded up.

Blair opted to ride in Nick's car, as did Liz. "If anyone asks, I guess I could be a groupie-cougar," she said thoughtfully when her husband questioned her.

Before heading out, Abe put a small black pin on the collar of Blair's shirt. "This will capture sound and video from inside the club which Trevor, your father, and I will monitor from the truck." He straightened to survey his 'niece'. "Remember, if you need to get out-"

"The safety phrase is 'Nick, I've got a curfew.'" Blair recited back, trying not to roll her eyes. Her whole family was so damn over protective, worrying about her like she was a little kid. _"It _is_ your first time out in the field, dumbass. I'm willing to bet that if someone grabbed you, you'd freak and slip into your favorite state of emotional distress."_ With a disgusted shake of her head, Blair nodded to her uncle. "I'll be ok."

Unsure of whom was more unconvinced – Abe or herself- Blair left him standing in the truck.

The ride into the city wasn't eventful; the majority of the trip going over the information Blair needed to keep in mind. Don't accept drinks from anyone. _"No shit."_ Don't leave the sides of Nick, Frank, or Tobi. _"Again, no shit."_

"And remember," Liz piped up from the back seat where she sat holding a guitar case in her lap. "Answer to 'Fi' in the club. We don't need them knowing who you really are. Keep your full name a secret."

"Right," Blair nodded. _"'Fi' from my middle name 'Fionnuala.' Hope I don't end up the way Nuala did."_ Blair shook her head as Nick pulled into a parallel parking space.

"Ready?" He asked, taking her hand in his and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Blair hesitated for a moment, but then nodded. "Let's go."

**Hi all! Hope you are all doing well!**

**I just wanted to clarify, I don't own any of the song mentioned in the chapter, or that will eventually come up in the story. They are all property of the amazing artists who did them and their respected record companies.**

**I also wanted to let everyone know that the name 'Fionnuala' is an actual Irish name, of which 'Nuala' is the shortened version. It means 'white shoulder', which I believe was fitting for Princess Nuala from HB2, and it also fits Blair.**

**I believe that clarifies everything!**

**Read and Review~~~~BBTM**


	17. Aiden and Aiken

**Yes! I'm back from the dead! Just kidding! I've just been so busy, that's why I haven't updated. I've also been suffering from several infections that are just making me miserable. With my face falling off, being deaf in one ear, not being able to swallow in addition to finals week fast approaching, It's amazing I found the time to finish this chapter. Thank God for procrastination!!**

** I wanted to let everyone know: I OWN NOTHING! THE SONGS IN THIS CHAPTER BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTED ARTISTS AND RECORD COMPANIES!!!!!!!**

** Now that that's out of the way, on with the show!**

The club was loud; Blair wasn't fond of the volume, but she gritted her teeth and bared it. After helping her mother and the boys carry in all the instruments and equipment, Blair was left standing back stage, bobbing nervously as she stood beside her mother.

Liz put a hand on her daughter's shoulder in an attempt to calm her and to make her stand still. "Breathe, Blair."

Blair nodded, taking a shaky breath. "I don't think I can go out there. I mean, what if they hate me? They can kind of kill me."

"You'll be fine," Liz said as 'Forget to Remember 'came to an end. The crowd roared as Nick's voice came out of the speakers. "You guys are awesome! We're going to take a break, and when we come back, we've got something new for you!"

The crowd roared in response as all three guys came walking around a corner and descended a small stair case of five steps. They were high fiving, laughing, and shoving each other in a boyish way before Nick broke away from them to up to Blair and her mother. "You think you're ready?"

Blair looked up at him, before shaking her head like a frightened little child. "I think I'm going to barf."

Liz patted her daughter's shoulder. "You're going to do fine, and you're not going to barf. I'm going to go out into the crowd and scope things out. I've got a camera on me, so your brother, dad, and Abe can see from my angle and yours."

Blair nodded as her mother patted her shoulder one last time before slipping away. Nick took Blair's hand in both of his and patted it reassuringly. "You'll be fine. You're a better singer than Reagan was; they're bound to love you."

"Nick!" Franklin and Tobias called in unison as they began heading toward the stairs. "Time to go man!"

Nick nodded toward them before pushing his forehead against Blair's. "You can do it."

Blair nodded as Nick pulled her toward the stage.

~*~

Liz had found a comfy perch on a bar stool, putting her in a prime location to watch the stage as well as the dance floor of the club. "Everything ok in there?" Red's voice asked in her ear.

Liz put her index finger nail in her mouth, allowing her mouth to be close to the microphone on her wrist without it seeming too suspicious. She looked like she was chewing her nail. "Yeah; your daughter has stage fright, but Nick'll get her up on stage."

Red chuckled a little. "Can't blame her for being scared. I'm going to initiate radio silence, so…"

"Over and out." Liz said, taking her nail from her mouth, resting her arm on the bar. The bartender came up to her, asked her what she wanted, but she declined anything. She was more worried about what was happening on stage.

The three boys had come back onto the stage and taken their appropriate places: Nick in the back, sitting at his drum set, Franklin on the left upper corner, holding his bass guitar in front of him, and Tobias on the right, lightly strumming his guitar strings in order to get the crowd's attention.

Nick had moved a mic-stand up toward his drum set, and sat down as he addressed the crowd. "You guys ready for more?" The crowd roared in response as Franklin began playing a bass line. "Alright, well, let me introduce our new female lead, the lovely Miss Fi!"

Liz watched Blair strutted out onto the stage, her hips swishing. Blair walked up to the microphone as the remaining instrumentation entered, forming the opener of 'Heaven's a Lie'. Blair began moving to the music, and the crowd began moving as well.

_Oh, no_

_Here it is again_

_I need to know_

_When I will fall in decay_

Liz couldn't help but gawk, her jaw hanging open, as he daughter sang. She certainly hadn't gotten _that_ from her…or HellBoy. Liz heard her husband laugh in a surprised way. "Are you sure that's our daughter?"

Liz shook her head as the song moved and swelled. A few men in the crowd walked up to the edge of the stage, reaching hands out to Blair. She swept by as she sang, the microphone having been removed from the stand, and touched hands with all them, acting like a real singer giving a concert to adoring fans.

_Set me free_

_Your heaven's a lie_

_Set me free with your love_

_Set me free, yeah_

As Blair finished singing, she let her right hand, which held the microphone, drop to her side as she looked up at the ceiling. The crowd cheered as the final chord of the song rang out. After the chord died away, Blair looked out to the crowd and raised the microphone to her lips. "How are you guys tonight?"

The crowd roared in response, and Blair smiled. Whistles and cat calls came her way. With a laugh, she spoke again. "You ready for another?" The crowd roared, and Blair looked back at Nick.

"Hit that, hit that snare."

Right on cue, Nick, Tobi, and Frank started the instrumental opener for 'Misery Business' with Blair tossing her short black hair around to the beat.

_I'm in the business of misery_

_Let's take it from the top_

Liz caught herself tapping her fingers on the bar in time with the beat. She was surprised at how good her daughter was.

~*~

Out in the truck, HellBoy, Trevor, and Abe were slightly flabbergasted. None of them had known that Blair could sing. (Well, Abe may have known due to the whole mind reading thing, but he certainly hadn't let anyone else know about it.)

Trevor sat at the back table, his feet kicked up onto the table. "Why did B have to get the looks _and _the talent?"

Abe shook his head at his nephew as he watched Liz's video feed. "Now, you know that you're a good artist. Remember those comic strips you did of Manning?"

HellBoy snorted in laughter, trying to be quiet so as not to disturb his wife over the radio line. "Those were really good Trev."

The music coming from the sound feed speakers faded, and the crowd roared. The musicians on stage moved right into 'Much like Falling' seamlessly as Trevor scoffed. "Just kind of seems like everything's about her now-a days."

~*~

'Much like Falling' came to an end, and cheers swelled from the crowd. Blair put her microphone back on the stand and walked back toward Nick at the drum set. Nick reached down to the ground and handed her bottled water. As she uncapped the bottle and took a swig, Nick stood up and pushed some of Blair's hair out of her face, and smiled at her. Whistles came from the crowd, and Nick bent to speak into his microphone. "Isn't she the greatest?"

The crowd roared; Blair was surprised at how large it was. There had to be almost five hundred people crammed into the rather small club. And they all seemed to be listening to her, enjoying her performance, wanting more from her. Recapping her water and handing it back to Nick, Blair returned to her microphone and addressed the crowd. "Alright, this is our last song! I want to see your hands in the air!"

The crowed obeyed, completely under her spell as the instrumentation of 'Chasm' began. As Blair began moving to the music, she addressed the crowd. "I want you to sing if you know it! Move around if you don't!"

_Please, give me something_

_I'm so thirsty, I'm so thirsty_

_Oh please, let me warn them_

_Don't you come here_

_Don't bring any one here_

_The chasm isn't fixed yet_

_Take this water_

_Drinking ever deeper_

_Living water_

~*~

After the show, Blair and Liz were packing things up and taking them out to the vehicles with the help of the boys when someone came out side to speak with them. He was the bartender Liz had seen earlier, wearing a red tee-shirt with a white long sleeved underneath, and blue jeans. He had a lean face, and his olive skin made him a surprising candidate for the title 'vampire'.

"Evening," he said as Nick stepped in front of Blair and Liz. They had to be careful about who they were near; even if they 'had an in' with the vampires, that didn't guarantee their safety among them. "Congratulations kids. You're in."

Without further word, the man walked back into the club. Franklin and Tobias each let out something between a whoop and a groan before turning toward Nick. Nick nodded toward them, and they reentered the club.

Nick turned toward Blair and Liz. "We're going in. Liz, can you stay out in the main part of the building and keep an eye on the crowd?"

Liz glanced from Nick to her daughter with uncertainty, but nodded before turning to walk back into the club.

Nick put his hands on Blair's shoulders and looked her in the eye. "I need to go ahead and warn you – Aiden has a thing for pretty girls. He's very touchy-feely. I need you to stay calm."

Blair nodded, trying to swallow her fear. "I also need to tell you – my kind is very…how should I put this? We tend to smile on the public display of affection."

Blair raised an eyebrow at him, forgetting her fear for a moment. "Just how deep in this PDA pond are we gonna get boy'o?"

"Not too deep," Nick said with a smile and a small laugh. "I just need you to be prepared to hold hands, hug; possibly kiss. I just want to be sure you can handle it."

Blair nodded, bringing her face close to his to bump their noses together. "I'll be ok. Just don't let anyone eat me."

~*~

Nick held onto my hand tightly as he led me through the club to a small door. A large bouncer type guy stood at the door and nodded us through; the room we entered was significantly smaller and darker than the main club, and thick smoke hung in the air.

I felt Nick squeeze my hand as we walked toward the back left corner. There was the equivalent of a corner booth in a restaurant, minus the table. The seat was black leather, and full of people. In the center of the bodies sat a set of identical males, acting as perfect mirror images of each other. Both had black hair, cut short and spiked up; both had large amber brown eyes that appeared to glow in the darkness of the room; both were pale and dressed in black sweaters and black jeans. Both had smirks on their faces that made my stomach churn.

The male on the left was preoccupied with the female that had taken to sitting astride on his lap, trying to entertain him. He didn't seem that interested, but didn't stop her as the moved her body around on top of his, tossing her orange hair around.

The male on the right was alone, and eyeing me with a sickening glance. A wicked grin spread across his face as he addressed his doppelganger. "They're here, brother."

Both males turned toward us as we approached. Tobias and Franklin stood on either side of me as we all came to a halt in front of the mass of bodies. Nick remained in front of me as he addressed the twins. "We're very honored to be here. Aiden. Aiken." Nick bowed slightly to each as he addressed them.

Aiden, the male on the left, pushed the orange haired female out of his lap. "You're boring me Reagan," he said as he stood. He closed the small distance between us and shook Nick's hand. "Thank you for joining us friends. We heard your performance, and my brother and I enjoyed it so!"

Aiden glanced at me over Nick's shoulder and gave me a small smile. A chill ran down my spine, but I managed to return the gesture. "And this must be the little song bird we heard," he said softly, glancing back at Nick. "May I have a closer look at your prize?"

Nick nodded slightly and stepped to the left, pulling me forward by the hand he held. "Fi, this is Aiden. Aiden, this is my Fi."

Nick released my hand and Aiden took it between both of his. His hands were cold as they encased mine. "A lovely little human," he said, looking me over. I kept my gaze on the ground as he patted my hand. "She will make a beautiful immortal; if that is your intention, of course." Aiden released my hand and brushed some of my hair away from my face. His cold touch made me shiver.

Aiden backed away and glanced at his twin brother. "Brother, don't you think she's lovely?"

Aiken came up to me and looked me up and down. His gaze made my skin crawl. He nodded slightly as a wicked grin spread across his face. I cut my gaze back to the floor. "Yes; smells good too." Aiken ducked his down to bring it closer to mine; he brought his lips close to my ear and whispered, "I wouldn't mind sinking my teeth into you."

I cringed as he kissed my cheek and backed away. The moment his lips touched me, a painful burning started across my skin. Nick took my hand in his again when he noticed my stillness. "Fi?"

I touched my cheek lightly with my free hand as I cast my glance down to the ground again. "Thank you; your compliments are very kind."

Aiden clapped his hands together lightly as a charming smile spread across his face. "Well, friends! It's time for everyone to dance, drink, and enjoy themselves!"

The crowd of people cheered, many of them standing from the couch and making their way out into the middle of the small room. Apparently, there was a private DJ and dance floor for the VIPs. Someone began playing thumping dance music as the bodies began moving together in a provocative way. Nick pulled me close to him as Tobias and Franklin went off to find partners of their own. "Are you okay with this?" Nick asked me.

I nodded as he pressed a kiss to my hair. "I'm not totally freaked out yet."


	18. Connections to the Unforgivable Crimes

There was a private bar in the corner opposite the large couch, and that's where Nick pulled me to, sitting me down on a stool and standing behind me protectively. "Are you sure you're alright?" He asked me, his lips against my ear.

I nodded. "I just didn't like the way Aiken looked at me," I half lied, not wanting to worry Nick with Aiken's statement. I put the nail of my index finger into my mouth and finally spoke into microphone on my wrist. "Can you see what's going on Dad?"

My Dad's voice crackled in my ears slightly; the signal was probably weak in here. "Not too well, but good enough; it's a little fuzzy."

"That's probably because of all the walls in the way, Red." Hearing my mom's voice comforted me somewhat, and I smiled gently. "There's nothing going on out here; dancing and drinking."

I nodded, forgetting that my parents couldn't see it and removed my finger nail. I glanced over my shoulder at Nick. "Is there any way I could get some water?"

He nodded and leaned toward my right, out of my line of vision, in order to ask the bar wench. I could hear her trying to be flirtatious with Nick, and feeling a little jealous, I cast my attention out onto the dance floor. I couldn't find Tobias or Franklin among the bodies, but for a reason I couldn't understand, my eyes chose to focus on one male who wasn't dancing.

His black hair, sweater and jeans made his hands and face appear to be disembodied; His amber brown eyes caught mine, and foul grin spread across his face.

Aiken began stalking his way through the crowd of people, heading straight toward me. My heart surged into over drive, my senses screaming at me to run, that he was a threat, but my legs were lead weights, and I couldn't move.

A glass of water appeared in front of me; Nick was holding it in my line of vision, as if he was trying to tempt me with it. He noticed my stillness and followed my gaze out into the dance floor. As Aiken, came closer, Nick sat the glass on the bar behind us as he whispered into my ear. "Don't worry, I'm right here."

I nodded slightly as Aiken stood before us, bowing slightly and offering his hand to me. "I was wondering if the little human would honor me with a dance." He flashed his poisonous grin at me, and I suddenly felt nauseous. I had seen that grin somewhere before, my body kept trying to tell me that, but I wasn't sure where.

Nick placed his arms around my shoulders as he stood behind me. "I'm afraid Fi is tired from the show; perhaps another time?"

Aiken nodded, but came to stand next to me, his back leaning against the bar. "Well, then might I enjoy your company?" He leaned back against the bar, spreading his arms out along the edge; his large hand knocked into my water glass, sending it off the bar and into my lap.

I yelped at the sudden cold, and Aiken began speaking an apology so very fake that I had to try my best to not roll my eyes. "Oh, I am so very sorry! Here, let me go fix you another glass!" He jumped over the bar, pushing the wench to the side and disappearing.

Nick had managed to find napkins and he began helping me to dab my jeans dry. "He did that on purpose," I told him under my breath, so no one nearby could hear.

Nick nodded as he dabbed my left leg dry, while I worked on my right. "I don't like the way he's looking at you. I want to get you out of here."

I shook my head. "You need to try and get into his memories – I'm willing to bet money that he had something to do with the deaths of those girls."

Nick nodded and stood straight as Aiken reappeared with a glass of ice water with lemon in his hand. "I really _am_ sorry about that." He said, pushing the glass into my hands. "Drink, dear Fi; you'll feel better."

He began to walk away into the crowd and I pushed Nick in that same direction. "Go after him – get in his head."

Nick began to argue, "But I don't want to leave you alo-"

"I won't move from this spot," I said, giving him another shove toward the dance floor where Aiken had disappeared. "Just go!"

Nick nodded quickly and then disappeared into the crowd, leaving me alone on my bar stool. I looked down at my hands which had come to rest on my lap, and saw the water glass. Now that I had time to think about it, I was really thirsty. Without really thinking, I put the glass to my lips and chugged it down. The lemon was bitter and almost salty. When I finished the glass, I gagged against the flavor, and then set the glass on the bar. The bar wench smiled at me slyly, as if she knew something I didn't, as she took the glass away.

Nick was gone for a while – after about half an hour, I started to get a little worried. Tobias and Franklin had finally shown themselves and took up protective posts on either side of me, leaning against the bar. I started to feel tired; my brain began to go very fuzzy. Sleep deprivation, I assumed.

My eyes began to droop shut as I leaned against Tobias; in the strange fog land where dreams began to creep up behind my eye lids, I began to hear a voice.

_Whose there?_ My own voice echoed in the darkness, though I didn't move my lips. A figure began to appear before me, darkness engulfing his face, his features slowly coming into focus.

_…Gotta listen…wasn't me…Sorry…Run…_

_What?_ I asked the figure and the darkness. The voice began to speak again, but I couldn't understand the words; I realized who the voice belonged to and my heart skipped a beat. _Andrew..?_

The figure held out a hand, only its face engulfed in shadows now. _Gotta believe me…wasn't…forgive me…_

I didn't understand what he was trying to tell me, but I wasn't afraid. The Andrew before me wasn't going to hurt me; his voice held a pleading tone, as if he were about to beg to me on his knees. I took a step forward and placed my hand in his. My stomach began to feel sick, nervousness more than fear. I was about to discover something awful. _Blair…look…wasn't me…_

I looked up at the figure, whose face was now visible. I gasped, and attempted to pull away; the figure grabbed hold of my wrist, hard enough that I was sure the bones had snapped. "Let me go!"

"Uh-uh." The figure pulled my face close to his; his amber brown eyes shone with venom as he flashed his wicked grin at me. "You're mine little human."

I lurched forward, falling off the bar stool and onto my knees. I couldn't hold my head up, and it bobbed around as if I were a broken bobble head. My vision was blurry, and no matter how many times I blinked, it wouldn't clear. I placed my hands on the floor in an attempt to keep myself up, but it didn't help. I could hear Tobias and Franklin calling my name and asking me if I was alright.

The fuzzy figure of Nick appeared before me. "Blair!...Ok?...happened?!"

I grabbed onto Nick's shirt, tears streaming from my eyes as I tried to gain enough control over my tongue to speak. "Curfew…leave…have to…"

I closed my eyes and slumped forward into Nick's chest, and as the world went black I could hear my parent's voices in my ear, yelling in unison. "Get her out of there!"

~*~

The fog began to lift, and I came to realize that I was staring at the ceiling in the guest room at Mrs. O'Brien's house. I couldn't remember how I had gotten there, so I tried to back track in my mind. I had been in the club-Aiken was giving me the creeps-water with lemon-Andrew…

I lurched forward as bile rose in my throat; I rolled to the side of the bed and was grateful for the pail someone had placed there. I emptied my stomach, and continued to dry heave for some time; tears streamed from my eyes as the dry heaves dissolved into sobs. If what I had seen was true, that would mean that Andrew didn't rape me. Right?

I felt someone rubbing my back as I hung over the side of the bed. I glanced up to see Nick, his eyes tired and his expression tight with worry. He helped me to sit up, handing me a cool wash cloth to wipe my face. "I'll go tell your parents that you're awake."

I looked after him. "Nick, I…"

"I looked into your memories while you were asleep," he said, standing in the doorway with his back to me. "I know that Aiken was the one who killed those girls. And I know that he had possessed Andrew the night that…" He stopped, clenching his fists at his side.

"How?" I asked.

Nick turned back to face me, his handsome features marred with anger. "My kind all possess special abilities; Aiden and Aiken both have the ability to possess others and use their bodies. Aiken come in contact with Andrew and possessed him."

"Did you look into his memories?" I asked, rubbing the wet cloth across my mouth.

Nick nodded. "I saw him kill them; those three girls. Aiden scolded him severely, and hasn't let him out of his sight since." Nick shook his head. "Aiken has gone mad; suppressed anger from when he was a human child has eaten away at him for many years."

I patted the bed and Nick came to sit on the edge. He let his head fall into his hands as he continued to speak. "He was sexually abused as a child; the anger and confusion he felt toward his abuser has resurfaced and turned him into a monster."

I nodded, looking down at my hands. I knew that people who had been abused were more likely to fall back into the cycle as abusers, but something still wasn't making sense.

"Why Andrew? Why me?" I asked, wondering where the final connection was.

Nick looked up at me, his eyes weary, as if he didn't want to say more, for fear of it breaking me further. "Andrew's great grandfather was a pastor in a church down in southern Georgia. That's where Aiden and Aiken were born in the early 1900s. He abused many young boys within the church, but Aiken was the worst."

I nodded and tried to imagine how Aiken must have felt. Someone you were supposed to trust, hurting you so deeply. I felt so bad for the vampire that frightened me so much. Nick heaved a sigh as he continued. "Don't pity him, Blair. He's a monster. All of our kind is. We all deserve death and the fires of Hell that follow."

He stood and left the room, stopping only to pick up the sick pail as he went.

~*~

Nick had told my parents everything – from Aiken being the murderer of those three girls to him possessing Andrew and using him to rape me. He believed that Aiken's ultimate goal was to destroy the descendants of the man who had harmed him so deeply, but he abandoned his plan after I had burned Andrew's car, killing the body of my best friends.

Dad was livid; I could hear him cursing from the kitchen, which had quickly become everyone's converging spot. I heard mom cry, and then get angry. Trevor remained silent as far as I could tell.

Nick and Mrs. O'Brien brought some broth up for me to eat, which I gladly accepted. I didn't feel sick anymore; I hadn't felt better in a long time. Understanding the crime committed against me had lifted the world from my shoulders; I only felt sadness for having killed my best friends, relief for knowing it hadn't been his fault and sympathy for Aiken.

As the day faded away, I wondered out of my room and down into the kitchen. Mom, Dad, Trevor, Uncle Abe, Mrs. O'Brien, Tobias, Franklin, and Nick were all sitting around the table, discussing something in hushed voices. When they noticed I had entered the room, Dad got up and came to hug me. "Feeling better Blair-Bear?"

I nodded as he released me. "Better than I have in a while." I walked with him up to the table and leaned against it, my palms flat against its hard surface. "I think we need to do something about Aiken. We don't have time to report back to Manning."

I heard Trevor scoff. "You know, this isn't all about what you think Blair."

I looked at him with confusion. He rarely used my actual name. "Trevor, I'm just sharing my opinion. And I'm sure I'm speaking for everyone when I say we have to do something before Aiken harms anyone else."

Trevor gave a 'keh' that could have given the anime character InuYasha a run for his money. "I'm getting really sick of everything revolving around you Blair. I get that you've got real issues, and I can't do anything to get rid of that, but damn it, I'm sick of being the forgotten child here. This whole damn mission has been about, "don't upset Blair," "Make sure Blair's okay." You know what? I'm out. You guys handle the blood suckers without me."

Trevor stood up roughly from the table, knocking his chair back as he did. Mom and Dad both began to fuss at him, and I moved around the table and placed a hand on his arm. "Trevor, what's your problem?" I demanded as kindly as I possibly could.

Trevor met my gaze with anger and hurt in his eyes. "My problem is that fact that no one can see the fact that I'm dealing with some tough shit too. Everyone's too wrapped up in protecting you to care what's going on with me. I'm going home."

Dad stood up to restrain his son. "You wanna talk about something champ, talk about it; don't bite you sister's head off for no reason."

Trevor scoffed as he shoved past Dad toward the back door. "There you go again: you all gotta make sure Blair's okay, and to hell with anyone else. I'm out."

With that, he was gone, disappearing into the sudden darkness of the back yard. "Red, go after him!" Mom said an edge of panic in her voice.

"No." Uncle Abe's voice cut the tension in the air as he held his hand up to stop his red brother. "Let him go; he'll make it home alright, and he won't be seen. There are some things he has to take care; he'll have them resolved by the time we return."

Mom looked from Uncle Abe to Dad, her eyes pleading for someone to go after her son, but Dad returned to his seat at the table and addressed me. "What do you think we should do about this Aiken guy, Blair?"

I looked around the table, hoping for suggestions, but when no one said anything, I shrugged. Nick stood from his chair in between Tobias and Franklin, his gaze meeting mine. His eyes were sad, but determined as we spoke. "The guys and I have an idea."

Everyone perked up to hear his suggestion. "We want Liz and Blair to burn the club down with the vampires inside." Nick looked from Tobias to Franklin. "We want you two to kill everyone inside with your fire…including the three of us."

**Woohoo!!!! Yay for another update!**

**So, I just wanted to give mad props to 'my mermaidia cove'! Your review talking about seeing Blair and Trevor fighting gave me the perfect segue into my Trevor story (which I will begin shortly!) You rock my socks!**

**Also, I just wanted to let everyone know that I have the most amazing and random playlist that helps inspire my writing! If you want to check it out, just go to playlist dot com and search for Tate-Monster's Favorites.**

**Lastly, this chapter's major working song is LET GO by Red! **

**Thanks a zillion! Please review!!! I'll make me smile!!!!**

**XXOO BBTM**


	19. Gaining Ground, Losing Him

"You want us to do what?!" I shot my panicked look between the three young men, Mrs. O'Brien, Uncle Abe, and my parents. "Did you hear what he just said?"

No one seemed to be as shocked as I was at the request, which made me panic even more. I walked around the table toward Nick; he turned to face me as I came up to him. "What the hell do you mean? Why do you want us to burn the club down with your guys in it?"

Nick put his hands on my shoulders in an attempt to calm me. "Blair, you need to listen to our reasoning. We don't want to be this way. Who is to say that we won't lose it the way Aiken has? We don't want to run the risk of becoming blood thirsty monsters."

"But you won't!" I said, almost childishly. "I know you guys! You wouldn't hurt anyone!"

Nick cast his gaze to the ground, while Tobias and Franklin began to inspect the wood grain patterns of the table. "We've already decided Blair." Tobias ran his black fingernail along the wood grain. "We don't want to be this way anymore."

Mrs. O'Brien cleared her throat; all attention fell to her. I prayed she would make the guys see reason. "Now, dearie, I understand your concern. The boys and I – and your parents and uncle – have all been discussing what was going to happen concerning the club and this Aiken fellow. "

Mrs. O'Brien paused to draw a breath. "The boys," she began, but drew a sad breath before continuing. "Tobias, Franklin and Nicholas came up with the plan of burning the club down with Aiken and Aiden inside. After discussing it with HellBoy, Liz and Abe, a conscience was reached: They boys would need to remain inside to make sure no one escaped."

"What about the vampires in the club who haven't hurt anyone?" I demanded, looking from Mrs. O'Brien to Nick. I placed my hand on his chest, tightening it up into a fist and clutching onto his black tee shirt. "Why kill them?"

My Dad's voice came to my ears as I looked up into Nick's eyes. "Vampires are never innocent, Blair."

"According to Nick, every single one that has ever been created has harmed _someone_," my mom's voice followed my dad's, their responses dissatisfying.

Uncle Abe reached his hand out and touched my arm. "Blaires, the three of them had made the decision to die long before we came along-"

"We just want to die doing something good," Tobias finished softly, his black fingernail scratching the table. The sound was painful to my ears, like nails on a chalk board.

"We want to go making things safe for humans," Franklin added, his accent especially thick. "No one should be preyed upon like that." The disgusted look that crossed his face made me shudder.

"I won't do it," I said with child-like defiance.

Nick looked down at me sadly. "Blair, please – "

"No!" I all but yelled, releasing Nick's shirt and pounding my fist into his chest as hard as I could. "I won't do it! I won't lose anything else to this damn fire! I can't! I won't!"

Mom stood from her chair and came to stand beside me, placing a calming hand on my shoulder. It didn't help. "Blair, they had already made the decision to end their lives long before all of this. They're just thinking that doing things this way would be doing some good for the world."

"Killing several nasty birds with one stone," Franklin added quietly.

"No." I pushed Nick away from me and twisted out from under my mother's hand.

Dad stood from his chair and blocked the path I had started to walk toward the back door. "Blair, I know this isn't easy, but we've all discussed it, and it's pretty much the only way. "

I shoved past him and walked out into the back yard; I was bare foot and apparently it had been snowing throughout the day. I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered; my feet began to go numb as I walked toward the BPRD truck.

I could hear Nick and my parents calling after me, followed by Uncle Abe and Mrs. O'Brien trying to calm everyone down. I stomped through the snow, finally coming to the barn. I peeked around the back ledge to see the truck, covered in snow. I shook my head, deciding not to try and find my way into it. I didn't have a clue how to work anything in it anyway.

I turned around to enter the barn and saw someone walking from the house toward me. I darted into the barn, found the light switch, and flicked it on. The small barn was flooded with light below the loft. I scanned the room and found a ladder leading up into the darkness. I went for it, not really caring what might be waiting for me over head. I climbed it, pulling myself up into the loft.

Apparently, the guys had had the sense to make the loft comfy, because I felt loose blanket beneath my knees and hands. I crawled further into the blackness, finally finding a corner to curl into. I sat, my knees pulled to my chest, my arms around my knees.

I heard who ever had followed me enter the barn. "Blair?" It was Nick. I tried to pull further into the corner; there was a draft, and I shivered despite myself. There was a throw blanket beside my feet, and I quickly snatched it up and wrapped it around myself.

The ladder rattled slightly with the weight of someone climbing it. Nick's form appeared as he climbed up onto the loft. I knew that he could see me with his vampire eyes, but I pressed further into the corner, hoping he might go away.

He crawled over to me, gently placing a hand on my knee. "Blair, can we talk?"

I glared at him through the darkness. "Depends; if the subject is you dying then no. "

Nick heaved an aggravated sigh. "Blair, why are you making this so hard?"

I started to argue, but stopped. Why _did_ I care so much? Why was I making it so hard for him? Not to mention Tobias and Franklin. If they didn't really want to be vampires, who was I to decide that they couldn't take the only way out that they knew of?

There had to be some other way – a way to make them human again. "Why do you guys have to die? What if we can find a way to change you back?"

Nick sat down Indian style beside me. "I wish there was, but no one we know can find any clues as to how we could be changed back. We've _tried_, Blair."

He sounded so sad, I felt awful. I reached my hand out to him, and he quickly caught it between both of his. They were so big that they seemed to swallow mine. We were silent for a few moments, and just as I took a breath to speak, Nick beat me to it. "It seems so unfair; just when I've finally got you again, gotten to see you for the first time since I was a kid, I'm going to leave." He squeezed my hand softly. "I don't know what I did wrong, but it just seems that God keeps punishing me."

"No!" I said, jumping to sit up on my knees beside Nick. "God isn't punishing you! You haven't done anything wrong! You're a good person, vampire or not! And I –"I stopped short. I really wanted to say _"I care about you,"_ but that seemed so strange. I had only known Nick for three days; wouldn't it be strange for me to care about him after that short amount of time.

Then again, he had sworn to marry me when he was five, and he still meant it, so…

I sat silent, not entirely sure what to say.

Nick put a hand on my cheek, caressing the side of my face. My heart had sped up, and I wished I could fix things. I wished I could find a way to change him and Tobi and Frank back into humans. I leaned down and wrapped my arms around his neck. "I wish I could find a way; I don't …" I trailed off, not possessing enough courage to say what I meant but what didn't make sense.

I shook my head and loosened my grip on Nick so I could pull back and look at his face; the light from below us barley illuminated his handsome features. Despite that, I felt my face get hot as our eyes locked into each other's gaze. Nick pulled his face up to mine, rising up on his knees as he went; our noses brushed as he pressed his forehead to mine. I closed my eyes and tried to remember how to breathe.

"Let me try," I said, my breath coming out in small tired gasps. Why did Nick have the ability to completely turn me to mush? "Let me try to find a way to make you human again."

I heard Nick's breath hitch in his throat as he wrapped his free arm around the small of my back. "I'm not safe for you Blair," he whispered. I could taste his breath on my tongue. "You just smell so…"

He leaned forward into me; bring his mouth to my neck as I arched backwards. My breathing became more quick and erratic. Nick kissed my throat. "I don't want to be this way Blair," Nick pulled us upright and the pulled away from me, although his arm remained wrapped around me. "But I'm starting to think that I can't leave you behind."

"Then don't." I said, my hands slipping to his shoulders as he wound his other arm behind me. "Let me try to find a way to change you back. Just don't die on me. Please." I leaned my head down, pressing my forehead to his shoulder. He pulled me closer as I shivered from the cold.

"I'll let you try," he said; I felt his lips press to my hair. "And I swear that I will protect you; from me and from anyone else who could harm you."

I nodded.

We sat together that way, for a long time, until finally, we stood and Nick carried me back into the house. Everyone had wandered off to separate rooms, leaving the kitchen empty. When Nick set me down, I walked toward the pantry, my bare feet slapping the tiled floor slightly. Nick followed behind me, a curious look on his face as I pulled open the trap door. "I don't want to be alone," I told him, pulling the blanket I still had tight around my shoulders.

The thought of losing Nick made my knees buckle; I couldn't stand the thought of being without him, the handsome almost stranger who for some reason, loved me. And after only a few days of gazes, music and protection, I loved him back.

We may have been gaining ground in our self made war against Aiken and his monstrous ways, but the thought of losing Nick made me want to abandon the fight we had agreed to take on.

Nick came up to me, taking hold of my chin with his thumb and fore finger. He pulled my face up toward his and he kissed me on the cheek. "Me either," he said, taking my hand in his and leading me down the hidden stair case to his bedroom.

**OMIGOSHOMIGOSHOMIGOSH!!!!!!! Almost to the big 2 0! How exciting is that?! I'm hoping to have chapter twenty up by about next Monday. I get the feeling that there are only a couple more chapters left in this one! Yayness!! Now, don't any of you guys worry, there will be more adventures with Nick and Blair – I actually dreamt about them getting pregnant out of wed lock and the colossal reaction of HellBoy that would . Greatness.**

**But yes, sadly, I think 'When All is Said and Done' might be ending soon. It's so exciting! My first completed Fanfic!!!**

**No working music for this chapter, sadly. Only background noise of New Moon being played on my television. **

**Also, I make this next statement out of pure and utter desperation: **

_**COULD YOU PLEASE REVIEW??????????????**_

**I am desperate to know what you all think! Please! The lack of reviews makes me cry! (Well, not cry actual tears, but it makes me really, REALLY sad!)**

**So, mad props to those of you who review (you know who you are), and to those who don't: please do!**

**Lastly, I'm trying to come up with ideas for a fanfic documenting the lives of the twins from the diapers to hilarious toddling years, ending right around the time the family decides to return to the BPRD. I've got a few ideas (wonderfully hilarious moments from throughout my childhood), but if anyone has any ideas, please PM then to me. You will, of course, receive credit.**

**And now I leave you to contemplate my requests and to wait in anticipation for the next chapter!**

**XXOO~BBTM**


	20. She's Four

Morning came, and HellBoy was crabby. He and Liz had fought a little before bed, and although he knew you shouldn't go to bed angry, they were both very tired. He glanced around the room in search of his shirt, and he got aggravated when he couldn't find it. He stood from the bed in the small guest bedroom. He could hear Tobias and Franklin snoring in the room on the left, and Mrs. O'Brien's soft breathing was coming from the one on the right.

HellBoy shook his head in an attempt to clear it, his hands on his hips, his tail swishing behind him. "Now where in the..?" He looked all around the room, but his shirt was nowhere to be found. He snorted in annoyance; he heard Liz roll over in her sleep. When he glanced at his wife of almost twelve years, HellBoy remembered: Liz was sleeping in his shirt.

"Favorite one, too," he muttered, a smile playing across his face. It was hard to stay mad at his Liz, especially now. HellBoy sometime attributed it to his old age, but in reality, he adored his wife. The woman he had loved for so many years, who had loved him in return, and had given him the two most precious gifts he could ever have asked for.

Thinking of his children made HellBoy's smile fade slightly. His little girl – his angel – had so much to deal with, and he was afraid that it would crush her. She had always struck him as so frail; he needed to protect her from the monsters in the world.

And yet, in his attempts to keep his daughter safe from harm, HellBoy had failed to even notice that his son was going through hard times as well. The thought of his son suffering with unknown distresses on his own made Red feel like a failure.

HB shook his head again; standing around worrying wasn't going to help anything. He walked around to the other side of the bed to where his wife lay curled up, sleeping peacefully. "Liz," he said softly, nudging her with his flesh hand. "Babe, want some breakfast?"

Liz opened her eyes, her look dazed with sleep. "Pamdakes…" she sighed, placing a hand on her husband's arms. "I…sorry we fought. Just worried."

HellBoy smiled at his wife as he kissed her cheek. She laughed a little as his facial hair tickled her. "Don't worry about it, babe. I'll go down and start cooking. See you soon."

"See you soon, HB." Liz mumbled as her husband left the room, leaving the door open just a crack behind him.

HellBoy walked down the stairs and then down the hall toward the kitchen. He felt that he should cook breakfast and give Mrs. O'Brien a break. He entered the small kitchen to the smell of pamcakes, eggs and bacon and was surprised. Nick was standing at the stove beside Blair, who was cooking eggs in a pan. Nick had the bacon going, and to his left was an electric griddle with pamcakes cooking on it.

The pair was laughing, appearing to have a good time. HellBoy smiled; glad to see his daughter smiling. He went to take a step further into the kitchen, but stopped, continuing to watch the pair. Nick had turned his face toward Blair. "You sure you want to make that bet?" His voice had a playful tone as a smile spread across his face.

Blair bumped her hip into Nick's as she giggled. "Oh yeah, because you know I'll win," she said, looking up at him. Her face glazed pink; HellBoy was taken aback. Was his little girl _flirting?_ With a vampire?_ With a boy?!_

The stairs creaked behind him, and HellBoy turned to see Liz descending from the second floor. She had changed into her usual black shirt and black Levis. He held a stone finger up in front of his lips, telling her to be quiet, and then waved her over. Liz joined her husband as they leaned around the door frame, watching Blair and Nick.

"What's so fascinating?" Liz whispered into her husband's ear as they spied; HellBoy shushed her and them motioned toward the couple at the stove.

It was strange, seeing Blair look so…happy. Seeing her act like a normal teenager for the first time in a while was a bit of a trip. Blair's laugh filled the room in response to something Nick had said, but she quickly tired to tone it down so she wouldn't end up waking the rest of the house. She choked back her laughter with her hand in front of her face, her cheeks turning red.

Nick laughed too, but more quietly and contained. "You shouldn't do that," he said, setting down the fork he had been using to tend the bacon and picking up a spatula to flip the pamcakes on the griddle.

Blair cocked her head as she poured the finished eggs into a large serving bowl. "I shouldn't do what?" she asked, taking the now empty frying pan over to the sink to wash it. "Laugh like a crazed hyena?"

Nick laughed again as Blair poured some dish soap onto a sponge and began scrubbing the pan clean. "No," he said, walking over to her after he finished flipping the pamcakes. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders as he stood behind her. "You shouldn't cover you face when you laugh. It's too pretty, and it's nice to see you smile."

Liz began patting her husband's arm excitedly. HellBoy looked at her in confusion; Liz was motioning wildly, trying to drag him away from the door. HellBoy furrowed his brow at her, not understanding her reason for wanting them to leave.

Nick's voice reached HellBoy's ear, "Blair, may I kiss you?"

HellBoy froze; he must of heard wrong. Blair was his little girl; she wasn't old enough to be kissing boys. HB turned around to watch the couple again. Blair was facing Nick now, her cheeks pink as she looked up at him. "You don't have to ask," she said, casting her gaze to the floor in embarrassment.

HellBoy couldn't believe his ears; did his daughter want to kiss that…that…_vampire?_

As Nick bend down slightly and brought his lips to Blair's HellBoy suddenly lost control of his body and started to charge into the kitchen. "No!" Liz hissed, pulling on her husband's arm with all of her strength, managing to get his attention before he burst into the room.

"Do you see what's going on in there?" HB demanded his voice in a low whisper.

Liz gave him a coy look. "Blair's not getting attacked, she's kissing a guy; why are you so freaked out about it?"

HellBoy moved away the door to the kitchen and into a room that appeared to be a home office. Liz followed behind him, and after she gently closed the door. "_What_ is your problem Red?"

HellBoy paced around the room, his hands on his hips. "I don't like it," he said in a low grumble.

Liz rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest. "I got _that_, Red," she said, leaning against the door as her husband paced. "It's the 'why' I'm not catching on too."

HellBoy stopped pacing and ran his flesh hand roughly across his face. "She's…it's just that she's…" he stuttered.

Liz walked over to her husband and pulled his hand away from his face. "What HB?"

"She's four!" His voice was louder than he had originally intended; he took in a sharp breath before rubbing his left hand down his face again.

Liz cocked her head at her husband; she didn't really understand what he meant at first. But then, as his meaning dawned on her, she couldn't help but smile at him a little sadly. "I know," she said, earning a surprised look from HellBoy. "She's four; so it Trev." She stepped into her husband, hugging him tightly around his waist, leaning her head against his chest. "I get it now Red; they're our kids. It's hard to try and see them as adults."

HellBoy wrapped his arms around his wife gently. "But they are…" he said. "Liz, where did all that time go?"

Liz shrugged against her husband. "I don't know HB," she said, pulling back slightly to look into her husband's face. "But we've got to accept it; they're adults now, like it or not."

HellBoy chuckled as he stooped to kiss his wife's lips. "They're four – period."

Liz laughed a little, both at her husband's humor as well as at his facial hair tickling her. "To us, they're always going to be kids; just don't tell them that."

The two embraced once more before going out to eat some breakfast.

**Hey all! This is a bit of a filler chapter before we head back to the vampire club and light it up!**

**I've only just realized that my story had sort of gotten away from what the description stated: I hadn't really covered HellBoy's and Liz's relationship with Trevor and Blair. I am very ashamed of this, and I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I **_**suck**_** at story description; alas, they are a necessary evil.**

**But yes, I wrote this chapter because it made me think of my dad (^_^) He constantly tells my older sister and I that we are eight and four (oddly enough, that math could never work because we're **_**5**_** years apart). I thought it would be nice to see how HellBoy was feeling about everything. He is the original hero, after all.**

**I'd also like to give madly amazing props and cyber hugs to **my mermaidia cove **and **IzzydaWolfeGrrl **for being amazing and reviewing! I love you both! Your support means the world to me.**

**And to my readers who don't review: I love you guys too! Sure, I wish you'd tell me what you think, but hey, we're all guilty of being non-reviewers…**

**And so ends another freakishly long author's note! Goodnight everyone!**


	21. Burn The Past to the Ground

**Quick Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!!! HellBoy is (sadly) not mine, and neither is the title of this chapter. It comes from the title song from the show **_**Rent**_**. I also do not own any of the song mentioned/used in this chapter.**

The day past all too quickly for Blair; she was dreading returning to the club. It was true that Tobias, Franklin and Nick had all given their word to not stay in the club after the fire was started, but she still had a bad feeling down in the pit of her stomach. She wasn't entirely sure if it was anxiety that her new friends would go against their words, or if it was fear. She would have to face Aiken again.

The thought of facing the man – no, the monster – behind her rape made Blair's stomach tighten. She was ill most of the day, after the Red team had began discussing their plans for getting into the club and setting it on fire. Every time Aiken's name was spoken, she had to run from the room and was sick in the bathroom for several minutes afterwards. She abandoned planning with the others after her fifth dash, and retreated down to Nick's room.

She didn't miss the look her father gave her as she left them sitting at the table, but she didn't care too much. She could live with the strange looks; better than Dad flipping his lid verbally.

She made her way into Nick's room, walked to his bed, flopping on it and curling into a ball on her side. Throwing up had made her hot and sticky, but she also felt cold, almost numb. She was afraid. Blair closed her eyes tightly as she exhaled, running a hand through her short black hair.

"Hey."

Blair opened her eyes to see Nick standing before his bed, tilting his head to the side as he looked her over. "You feel ok?" He asked her, coming closer to crouch beside his bed. He held his hand out to her and she took it in hers.

She nodded as she spoke and squeezed his hand lightly. "I'm just…afraid," Blair said.

Nick made a strange sound, somewhere between a 'tisk' and a worried sigh. He ran a hand through Blair's hair. "I told you, I'm going to protect you. You don't have anything to worry about."

Blair nodded after digesting what Nick had said. "Okay," she managed to get out, her voice week.

Nick nodded, his worried eyes scanning Blair's face. "You stay down here and rest, ok?"

"'Kay."

Night fell; the Red team was at the ready, field agents poised to enter the club, stationary agents prepared to enter the field if necessary. HellBoy had hugged his wife and daughter tightly, kissing their cheeks and telling them to stay safe. The promised that they would.

Before the field team (Liz, Blair, Nick, Tobias and Franklin) prepared to leave, HellBoy pulled Nick to the side. "Sir?" Nick inquired, looking up into HellBoy's face.

"Yeah, uh…" HellBoy started, putting his hands on his hips, trying to go against his better instincts. He didn't like the fact he had to ask, but… "Take care of my daughter, okay?"

Nick nodded, holding his left hand out to HellBoy. "I'll guard her with my life," he said.

HellBoy took Nick's left hand in his own. "Thank you."

The field team entered the club through the band entrance, unloading the musical instruments and equipment. They prepared for the short show they were going to give in the main club. Nick had been assured the last time that they would all be allowed into the VIP room for a private performance later in the evening. Liz planned to sneak her way behind the bar in the main part of the club and use the alcohol to start the fire. Once the show in the private room was over, Blair was to go behind the bar in there and start her own fire.

The show in the main room went off without a hitch, with the guys performing 'Ain't Love Grand', and 'Breath'. Blair came out and sang with them on 'Crushcrushcrush' and 'Swept Away.' Once they wrapped everything up, Liz pulled her daughter into a hug. "Be safe," she said softly before walking quickly into the club to try and weasel her way behind the bar.

Nick walked up to Blair and took her hand. "Ready?"

"Let's go," Nick said, pulling her along behind him, his hand tight around hers.

Franklin and Tobias had agreed to block the exterior exits from the inside, and remained there, ensuring that no one except the team got out. Blair whispered an anxious prayer for the two of them as she and Nick entered the VIP room.

Everyone already in the room was up and dancing, the DJ acting as a snake charmer. Nick pulled Blair up to the DJ's make shift stage, setting down the guitar case he carried in his other hand. He brought his lips to her ear and whispered, "Ready?"

Blair nodded, and Nick released her hand and stepped up onto the stage, addressing the DJ. Blair's stomach turned as she stood alone, her eyes scanning the room for Aiden and Aiken. She found Aiden first, dancing with the orange haired woman from the first time. Blair blushed slightly at the closeness of their bodies.

She continued to scan the room, searching for Aiken; when she thought she had spotted him, her stomach threatened to clench. She couldn't get sick now. They were so close to finishing this job, she had to stay strong.

The music the DJ was providing faded; Nick began speaking into a microphone as the bodies began to go still. Blair grabbed his guitar and stepped up onto the stage, handing the instrument off to Nick as she came to stand behind the microphone stand.

"So, Fi and I have come to perform something especially for you all, and uh…well, we hope that you like it." Nick placed the microphone back into the stand and then stooped to open his guitar case. Blair stooped beside him, trying to look like she was helping, but she spoke to him in a soft whisper, "Promise you'll get out, okay?"

Nick nodded as he stood, guitar in hand. He stood and walked over to the microphone stand, motioning for Blair to move to stand with him. She straightened and joined Nick at the microphone; they stood close together, their shoulders almost brushing. Nick began playing the guitar intro for an acoustic version of 'Broken', a duet originally done by Seether with Amy Lee.

As the two fell into singing, Blair continued to scan the dance floor. Aiken was nowhere to be found, and his brother had vanished now. That worried her; she hoped that they hadn't found a way to escape.

'_Cause I'm broken when I'm open_

_And I don't feel like I am strong enough_

'_Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome_

_And I don't feel right when you're gone away_

'_Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome_

_And I don't feel right when you're gone away_

Nick sang the final lines of the song, strumming the final chord on his guitar. The crowd cheered, males offering up cat calls. Nick held his guitar in his right hand while wrapping his left arm protectively around Blair's waist. "Head to the bar, I'll cover you," he whispered in her ear softly before kissing her cheek and releasing her.

Blair scurried away, hopping off the stage and walking quickly toward the bar; the same bartender from their first night in the club stood behind the bar, preparing drinks for thirsty patrons. He spotted Blair and sauntered over to her, a grin on his face. "What can I do ya' for little lady?"

Blair put her index finger to her lips, appearing to be in thought, before the held it up to the man. "Could I come behind the bar and make my own drink?"

The man eyed her with mild suspicion, but finally nodded and gave her another smile. "Sure thing; I'll help ya' out if ya' – "At that moment, a rather large group of VIPs came up to the bar demanding drinks. He cast Blair a look before walking away to serve his customers. Blair exhaled softly in relief before climbing over the bar.

There were so many people surrounding the bar that it was very easy for her to set the fire without being caught. Blair ducked down below the bar, finding a small opening to hide in. There were shelves filled with bottles of alcohol beside her so she quickly grabbed the largest one she could find. By a stroke of luck, the bartender walked by but dropped his drying rag to the floor.

He was so busy that he didn't bother picking it up before walking away and Blair snatched it up quickly, stuffing half of it into the mouth of the open bottle. She took a quick breath, concentrating on conjuring the fire she held deep inside herself. She focused on bringing it forth into the tips of her fingers, where she held the corner of the rag, pinched tightly.

At last, Blair felt the surge of energy and heat from her flames and saw them spark to life, catching on the rag. She took another deep breath before leaving her hiding place, standing behind the bar. The bartender spotted her, but it took him a moment to notice the growing bomb in her hand. When the flames caught his eyes, he opened his mouth, preparing to call out.

Blair threw the bottle at him as hard as she could. The glass shattered on contact, and the man was engulfed in flames. He cried out, dropping a bottle he had been holding; it shattered on the ground and the liquid caught fire.

The flames on the alcohol glowed blue, reminding Blair of her own flames; other club goers had noticed the spreading flames, and the screaming started. As the floor and bar caught fire, the flames transitioned into an orange color.

Blair launched herself back onto the other side of the bar; she ran as the flames she had conjured began to burn everything to the ground.

**Alright! Not much to say, just that I hope you all don't hate me for cliffhangers! **


	22. Rise From The Ashes

I could hear glass shattering as the flames spread; the bottles behind the bar must have been breaking. A stampede of VIPs began flooding toward the only small exit the room offered. I dodged out of the way of the crowd, stooping to hide behind the DJ's stage. I covered my mouth and my nose as smoke began to fill the room. I half expected sprinklers to turn on and douse out our grand plans, but it didn't happen.

The room grew quieter as people began exiting the VIP room, but the screaming continued as they entered the main part of the club to find more flames and no exit. I covered my ears against the cries, guilt bubbling in my gut, bile rising in my throat. _I _was to blame for their deaths.

"Blair!"

Nick's voice cut through the black smoke; I stood, stooping as I tried to find my way to him. "Nick! I'm over here!" When I inhaled, I sucked in acrid smoke, choking and coughing. I fell back to the ground, getting as low as I possibly could; thank God it was easier to breathe closer to the floor.

I saw a figure begin to walk toward me through the smoke, a hand extended to me. "Nick," I sighed; thankful he had found me, taking the hand. It pulled me up, and I expected Nick to help me find a way out, but the figure didn't. Its other hand found its way to the back of my head, grabbing tightly to my hair.

I realized – obviously too late – that the figure wasn't Nick. It pulled my hair, forcing my head back, exposing my throat. I let out a startled cry, and the figure laughed at me.

My blood suddenly ran cold; I would know that laugh anywhere.

Aiken's face came into view, his amber-brown eyes hazed with madness as he pulled his lips back over his teeth. "You smell even better when you're afraid," he said, his voice making my stomach clench with the desire to be sick. "Like that night I was in the human-boy – your scent drove me insane, little girl."

Aiken brought his mouth down to the base of my throat and I whimpered. _Not again,_ was all I could think. _This can't be happening again!_

I clenched my fists, conjuring flames; Aiken's grip on my right hand remained firm, so I took to trying to hit him with my left. Unfortunately, my left hand was my weak one, and my blows did little to help me. Aiken laughed as he pressed open-mouth kisses to my throat and the sides of my neck. "I think I'm going to take a taste," he muttered almost to himself. I felt teeth brush against my skin.

I panicked; my left fist began flying wildly as I struggled to pull my right hand free. Tears formed in my eyes and threatened to spill over as I thrashed about. I fell to my knees, but Aiken kept in close contact, his hand pulling my head back even further. If he pulled any harder, I was sure my neck would snap. The thought was almost comforting; that was a much more favorable way to die than to be drained of blood, eaten like a hunk of meat.

Aiken bit down at the base of my throat, just above the ridges of my collar bone. I cried out as I felt blood begin to pour down my front. I couldn't breathe; my mind instantly went to my family.

_Mom…_

_ Daddy…_

_ Trevor…_

_ Uncle Abe…_

_ No! I don't want to leave them!_

I could hear Nick's voice. "Blair! Don't leave me!"

"Nick?!" I called out at the top of my voice, but I knew that he couldn't really hear me.

Despite that, he responded. "Blair, I'm right here. I'm going to get you out of here, just hand on."

I became aware of my body again then; I pried my eyes open. Nick was sitting beside me, a firm hand pressed against the wound on my neck. We were still in the burning club, the black smoke barley penetrated by the fire light. "N-…Nick…"

Nick pressed a little harder on my wound. "Why won't the bleeding stop?!" His teeth were clenched; his breath was fast and shallow. Through my haze I realized what was wrong – Nick was fighting the urge to drink my blood.

"Nick," I started softly. I continued despite Nick's attempt to keep me quiet. "Am I going to become a vampire?"

Nick was pressing so hard on my throat that it was starting to get hard to breathe. "I don't know – I just need to get you out of here," he removed his hand from my wound and began wrapping his arms around me to carry me bridal style. As I peered over his shoulder, a figure appeared through the smoke.

"Nick, behind you."

Nick looked over his shoulder and then jumped up and began fighting against the figure. They came close enough for me to make out the figure's facial features. Aiken. I forced myself to sit up, pressing my hand against the wound on my neck. I could feel blood pouring through my fingers as I struggled to my feet.

I stopped suddenly when I heard Nick roar. Actually roar, like a wild animal. I saw Aiken fall to the ground, and I could have sworn that I saw his head roll away from his torso. I hoped I had been seeing things, chalked it up to the smoke that was clouding my vision.

Nick walked over to me, taking my free hand and pulling me to my feet. "We've gotta get out of here," he said, his voice rough. He began pulling me along behind him, but then crumpled to the floor in front of me with a curse mixed with a pained gasp.

"Nick," I tried to exclaim, but I was still having trouble breathing because of my wound. I knelt beside him, trying to get a closer look at him to see if he was wounded. I tried to tend to him while keeping my wound covered, but it was difficult. I saw that Nick's face was bloodied and his shoulder hand a large gash in it. It almost looked as if he had been bitten; that a chunk of flesh had been ripped out.

I was almost sick; Nick had gotten hurt trying to protect me. As the club continued to burn around us, I released my own wound and began trying to tend to Nick's. "You're hurt." My voice was weak as my head began to go fuzzy from blood loss.

Nick tried to push me away, but I wouldn't budge. I was worried about him and wanted to tend to his wounds. "Blair, you've got to get out."

"Not without you," I said softly, realizing how badly we needed to leave. I suddenly became aware of the heat surrounding us, and almost began to panic again. My heart sped up, causing blood to pour faster from my wound.

Nick came closer to me as I sat on my knees in front of him. "Blair, you need to get away from me…" he started, resting his forehead on my shoulder. "Before I…"

I shook my head, placing my hands on the back of his head, running them through his hair. I didn't even realize that I was smearing his red hair with blood. "I don't care what you do," I said, my grip tightening on him. "Bite me, drain me dry – I don't care! But I refuse to leave you!"

I could hear the roof groaning, threatening to collapse. Nick gripped my arms firmly in his hands. "You want us to both get out of here alive, right?"

I nodded.

"Then don't move," Nick said. He turned his head toward my wound, softly bringing his lips to it, taking in some of the blood that was running from it.

Nick pressed his lips firmly against the wound in an opened mouth kiss, drinking deeply from me. I should have been afraid, but all I could think about was how close we felt. I wrapped my arms around Nick's head in an attempt to pull him closer to me.

The roof groaned louder, threatening to fall in. Nick pulled away from me, his breathing more even. He stood quickly, pulling me up into his arms as if I were a small child. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and my legs around his torso as he began to walk across the room. My brain began to go fuzzy and I started to drop into unconsciousness.

I was only vaguely aware of my father's voice as he called to Nick, leading us out of the burning building. The last thing I could remember hearing before dropping completely was Uncle Abe's cool hands on my face and neck, speaking of how fortunate we were to have gotten out alive.

Nick scoffed slightly when my mother asked him if he thought that Aiken was still alive. "He will never rise from the ashes," he said softly. I felt his hand grip mine.

I fell off the earth.


	23. When All Is Said and Done

**Hello all! Sad to say, I think this is the final chapter! I wanted to apologize for the previous chapter. I re-read it (after posting it, unfortunately) and saw many embarrassing mistakes. I am truly ashamed. May Abe Sapien's ungodly large book collection crush me to dust. **

**I am also very glad to announce that I have survived my freshman year of college! *Happy dance* Now I've got a month off before summer courses start, which means plenty of writing time!**

**This means that I **_**will**_** be starting on a story for Trevor! I'm really excited about that one. I'm actually contemplating making him be a bit of a screw up bad boy…hmmm…possibilities…**

**Lastly, I would like to draw your attention to my second story 'Fading Memories.' It is an Avatar: the Last Airbender fic and I really hope you'll stop by and check it out! **

**And now, with that out of the way, on with the show!**

Blair awoke in the medical ward at the BPRD; her head was pounding, her throat was dry on the inside and burning on the out. She groaned as she opened her eyes and was blinded by the bright overhead lights. She looked around the room, trying to see if anyone was with her. Finding herself alone, she focused on the large monitor which was keeping tabs on her heart rate and other vitals.

Blair brought her hand up to her head, rubbing her eyes. Her left forearm was wrapped tightly in white bandages. When she looked at her right, she saw that it matched. Blair could only assume that she had been burned before being pulled from the club by…

"Nick," she sighed, trying to sit up. The monitors all began beeping loudly as her body strained to respond to her. The door to the room opened, and Blair's surroundings were suddenly filled with sound an activity. Liz ran quickly to her daughter's side, trying to push her back down onto the bed while speaking to her in a soft and quick voice.

"Mom, where's Nick? What happened?"

Liz looked over her daughter once Blair finally lay back down. "We've brought you and Nick back home; Tobias and Franklin are staying with Mrs. O'Brien. You were burned pretty badly."

Blair started to ask her mother more questions when she heard her father's angry voice booming from in the hall. "You are a sick, twisted little son of a-"

"I will not have you insult my mother, HellBoy!" Nick's voice rose up almost as loud as HellBoy's. Blair gave a small smile as she listened to her father and Nick fight.

Liz growled as she walked toward the door and stuck her head out into the hall way. "Would you two jack asses shut the _fuck_ up?" Liz stalked back over to her daughter, gently sweeping some of Blair's short black hair out of her face. "They have been doing that for almost a week."

"A week? I was out for a week?" Blair sat bold upright, the monitor machines responding loudly and violently. Liz tried to force Blair back down, but her daughter wouldn't budge. "Mom, what happened to me? Why was I unconscious for a week?"

Liz stopped trying to force her daughter back down, but kept her voice as soothing as she could manage despite her stretched nerves. "Nick said it was a vampire – human bond…thing!" She finished the sentence, the last word coated with parts confusion and disgust. "Apparently, something happens within a human when they willingly give their blood to a vampire. They become bonded together-"

"I'm already bonded to Nick," Blair said in a calm voice. "None of that explains why I was unconscious _for a week!_"

Liz flung her hands up into the air in frustration and walked away from her daughter, hands over her head. She exhaled heavily, bringing her hands down onto her hips as she turned and walked back toward Blair. "We don't know," was all she said.

Blair bit her lip as she looked at her mother. "I'm not a vampire, am I?" She asked, fascinated and yet fearful.

Liz shook her head roughly, quickly wrapping her arms around her daughter. "Baby, no, you're still human. You're just…bonded to Nick now…by your blood."

Blair exhaled in relief. "I'm glad…" She heard her father yelling once again. "Is that why daddy's freaking out?"

Liz released Blair, a slight smirk on her lips. "Yeah…you know how dads are: they don't like the prospect of sharing daughters."

After a few days, Abe gave Blair the all clear to leave the medical ward. Once she was free of her many tubes and chords, Blair took to wandering around the BPRD, trying to find Nick as well as her long missing twin brother.

Blair was walking toward her brother's room, preparing to confront him about his hurtfulness on his last night at Mrs. O'Brien's house. She turned the corner down his hallway to see him starting to enter his room, a plate of food in his hand. "Trev!" she called, walking up to him. Trevor jumped upon hearing his name called, and quickly moved to block his bedroom door from his sister's view. "Trevor, I need to talk to you."

Trevor looked from the food in his hand back to his sister. "Uh, yeah, I-I need to talk to you too."

Blair started to cross her arms across her chest, but cringed at the slight pain it caused her burns. She resorted back to keeping her arms by her sides, where they caused her the least discomfort. "I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry I didn't recognize that you were having problems," she started, but her brother began to interrupt her.

"B, listen, I've got something I've really got to tell you, but you gotta swear you won't tell mom and pop," Trevor ducked his head down so that Blair could hear his lowered voice.

Blair, however, continued to speak; Trevor refused to be talked over, and the simple brother sister conversation became an all out screaming match, both players battling for dominance.

Trevor exclaimed in frustration, throwing his free hand up into the air. "There you go again, B. Even when I'm _trying_ to fucking tell you what's been bothering me, you're too fucking busy trying to talk over me-"

"You are such a prick Trev!" Blair yelled at her twin brother, he face growing so red that the pair finally had a physical resemblance. "I'm sitting here trying to apologize, and you won't even let me get the fucking words out!"

Nick was suddenly standing beside Blair, one hand held out in between the twins, the other resting on Blair's shoulder. "Trevor, Blair, what's going on?"

At the same time, the twins answered Nick's question. Blair huffed before saying, "My twin is a prick." Trevor spoke before he huffed, growling "My sister is a bitch."

Blair looked at her brother, clenching her fists and conjuring flames. "What the fuck did you just call me?"

Trevor backed up suddenly, pushing his bedroom door open a little more. Nick began trying to sooth Blair, warning her that she didn't need burning bandages wrapped around her healing burns. Blair ignored what Nick said and started to raise a flickering fist to punch her brother when she heard a small voice call out, "No!"

Nick pulled Blair back as a young woman jumped in front of Trevor coming from within his bedroom. Trevor dropped the plate of food he had been holding, wrapping an arm around the girl's waist and whirling around to try and hide her. "Tarah, No!"

All movement in the hall stopped; Blair's flames died out as she gazed at her brother in shock. Nick stood behind Blair, his arms wrapped around her waist, his mouth hanging open. Trevor peeked back at them over his shoulder and the girl he had called Tarah peeked out around his muscular arm.

"You've…She's…"Blair stammered, raising her hand to point at her brother and the young woman in his arms. "You are in _such_ shit, Trevor."

Trevor whipped back around, pulling Tarah around in front of him. Tarah was a pretty girl; averaged height with a thick curvy build. She wore a short grey dress and was bare footed; her hazel eyes were wide from her sudden ride in Trevor's arm. "Blair, this is Tarah; she's the reason I wanted to come back home."

Trevor snaked his other arm around Tarah's waist, holding her tightly to him. Her head rested perfectly into his chest; she reached up with a pale hand and pushed some of her shoulder length blonde hair out of her face. "Um," she started her voice small as she addressed Blair and Nick. "Hi."

Nick sniggered from behind Blair. "Trevor, I never took you for _that_ kind of guy."

Trevor shot a glare at the vampire before addressing his sister. "B, I need your help to…tell mom and dad about Tarah. They-"

"They don't know that she's here?"

"No!" Trevor growled. "Don't you get it? That's why I've been stressed. The shit I've been going through? It was because of Tarah. She was living on the street, and you know its fucking cold out there, so I've been worried about her. On top of all that …" Trevor trailed off, looking down at Tarah and pressing his lips firmly to the top of her head.

Tarah looked to Blair. "Trev is worried that your parents will…um…"

Blair cocked an eyebrow at the girl. "Flip their shit?"

Tarah nodded. "Yeah, that."

Trevor looked at his sister with a pleading look in his eyes. "Please B, could you…help?"

Blair thought for a moment, and then pulled away from Nick. "Okay, I'll help you talk to mom and dad. On one condition though."

Trevor loosened his grip of Tarah as his sister approached him. Blair stabbed him roughly with her finger tip in his left bicep. "From now on, _talk_ about you issues before they get to big, and don't flip out on me next time. I'm your sister, not a shrink who gets paid to have you yell at them. My services are free."

Trevor nodded, a smile leaking out onto his face. "Alright, just as long as you don't talk over me anymore. That fucking pissed me off."

The four young people began heading down the hall, not entirely sure of the reaction they would receive. The only thing they were certain about was that, when all was said and done, they needed each other. Nick, Blair, Trevor and Tarah marched strongly together into what would potentially become the greatest adventure of their lives.

**And there you have it folks! The End!**


End file.
